The Crying Dead
by Bubblephobia
Summary: Sakura has been locked away for as long as she can remember, she hopes one day to escape and make something more of her life. She soon discovers the outisde world isn't all it's cracked up to be, and monsters lurk in sheep's clothing. NaruxSaku
1. Deal with the Devil

Chapter Title: Deal with the Devil

Rating for this chapter: PG-15

A/N: This is my first fan-fic to be posted, please enjoy. If some parts don't make sense I can pretty much guarantee they will be answered eventually. Or if you really want to know leave your question in a review I don't check my email often so I don't recommend sending a message through that. For those who read it when I posted this before, I redid pretty much all of the chapter so reread. I took it down because I was unsatisfied with it and wanted to take it in another direction.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or the lyrics to Majorie Fair's song "Empty Room"

_I don't want to go, but if I die young _

_Fill my empty room with the sun _

_This doesn't matter like it did before _

_This doesn't matter much anymore _

She tried to remember, she tried to seek out those memories which eluded her so, but it seemed the more effort she put into it the less she got out of it. Over the past four years of living in her small, dark room all she recalled of her past life was her name, her age, and her parent's mysterious deaths. She didn't know how they died or possibly why, just that they were indeed dead. She did know however the reason behind her first name was because of her distracting, unusual pink hair, it was the same exact color of cherry blossoms in full bloom off a Sakura tree. Her last name was still a mystery, or even if she did have a last name though she was almost positive she must have had one at some point or another. Sakura also knew she was currently thirteen years old thanks to the tally marks she had marked on her room wall throughout the years.

Sakura was also an insomniac, she would refuse to sleep until her will power caved in, or her caretakers slipped a sleeping drug in her food. She would spend hours in the lulling darkness forcing her eyes to stay open, stubborn and headstrong. If and when she did fall into the clutches of her dream world, the nightmares would come. The grinding of teeth and bones, blood-curdling screams, and a village massacred beyond all recognition. Sakura was only familiar with two of the people in her dream, and they were the ones wreaking havoc upon the poor villagers.

Her parents…

She shivered at the thought of her dead parents walking among the living, slaughtering everyone. Every time she would scream at them and ask why they would do such awful things, and every time she was greeted with an insane, cruel laughter that pierced her ears and rocked her to the core with horror and a sense of overwhelming grief.

When she did manage to escape that dark dream land she would be crying hysterically, inconsolable but of course there would be no one there to comfort her or tell her it was just a bad dream and nothing else, that everything would be alright. Nobody was ever there for her, just the cold, wooden floor and four silent walls. Sakura was sure the repetitive nightmare was some locked away memory from her childhood, she was also sure she didn't want it unlocked. Whatever had happened would continue to haunt her, but at least she was partly ignorant of it.

The pink haired prisoner would spend hours, even days reading books, thousands of them. It was how she learned about the outside world, strange cultures and foreign languages. It kept her from going insane, despite her solitude. Sometimes in the stories a princess or some beautiful damsel would be in trouble, or kidnapped by an evil creature, but right before something terrible happened to the girl a handsome prince, or knight would rescue them, and carry them off into the crimson sunset. There were tales of great and powerful shinobis fighting to the death, protecting what they believed was right, she wanted nothing more than to become one of those ninjas…

The door to her dark room suddenly opened, startling Sakura out her deep thoughts. A tall man with golden hair, and an ocean blue eye walked in carrying a tray full of food with him. The artist smiled at her and Sakura glared right back at him, tensing. He didn't seem to notice closing the door right behind him leaving the room in pitch black like it had been before. Sakura had very unusual eyes with them she could see in the dark, though it was only in black and white.

She watched him carefully as he neared her setting the tray down next to her rigid form, she couldn't help but notice he smelled of seared flesh and blood. It was rather unsettling, considering he probably had just blown somebody up, and was still smiling at her. Insane, she reminded herself, he's completely off his rocker. He wasn't fooling anybody with that bizarre, crooked smile of his.

Since her small prison had no lighting she took it upon herself to rearrange the furniture to fool her captors into running into things, though he found her unused bed on the other side of the room easily. He obviously had something aiding his vision. She smiled inwardly when she thought of a certain shark-man cussing up a storm when he fell victim to her little schemes. "Think your being pretty cute, yeah?" Impatience had already begun to creep into his voice, it was pretty much elementary provoking him. She actually enjoyed it, it brought her great amusement to see her caretakers just as angry and frustrated as she was.

Deidara quickly molded a clay candle placing it on the floor below the bed. A tiny spark flew from the top and suddenly it lit up, the lighting almost had a magical effect on the room, but neither of the occupants cared to notice. Instead Sakura took to examining the food he had brought, and Deidara watched with passing curiosity as she poked at the contents.

Sakura scrunched her nose in barefaced disgust at the bruised yellow and brown apple noticing the holes where it seemed something else had decided to take residency. A molded stale piece of bread, some strips of dried meat, and a cup of questionably sanitary water were all that was left, she frowned as she leaned forward seeing a strange white powder sprinkled on all of the contents. Did they honestly think she was that stupid? Rolling her large lime-colored eyes, she turned her scowl to the blonde now lounging on her bed. "It looks delicious." Sarcasm dripping off every word like venom.

"You think so, yeah?" Sarcasm matching her own, he sat up meeting the glower with his one visible eye, "I thought you'd like it." The mad bomber was rising to the challenge of her unspoken defiance, he was trying to hide it but she could see his temper flaring as well. Patience was obviously not a virtue today (Or really any other day if she thought about it), she decided to test the waters.

Without breaking the heated staring contest she reached over grabbing the wrinkled piece of fruit and crushed it. Sticky apple juice oozed from between her slender fingers. Outwardly he didn't seem phased by her little act of rebellion, but she saw the way his cobalt eye flickered with annoyance. She couldn't stop herself from smirking smugly at him, really she couldn't. It was just a game after all, one would lose and the other would win. She always lost but she would play and defy them in any way possible, if only to be an instigator and agitate the hell out of them. It was the only fun Sakura ever had in this mundane, dull lifestyle.

Deidara was grinding his teeth with barely contained fury, his aura radiating murder for her sassy attitude, and just her in general. Why did she always make things so difficult for them? For herself? He swore Tobi was taking his next shift as babysitter as well as his own, at least Tobi seemed to keep himself in check when she acted this way. He, on the other hand, was itching for his clay pouches to teach her a lesson in manners.

Still keeping eye contact Sakura stood up suddenly, taking the tray of food with her, and without warning flung the nasty, disgusting food right at the blonde. She watched in mild amazement as it flew through empty air right where he had been, and slammed against the opposite wall.

Sakura stiffened when she realized he was gone, not that she really expected him to just sit there and take it, but still she was dealing with somebody who moved so fast he was impossible to follow. Abruptly she was pinned against the wall, the freak crushing her with his weight. "Why Sakura must you always do this? I'm sick and fucking tired of your constant nonsense, yeah. It's getting past the point of old, yeah." He growled the last part out, the hand wrapped around her throat tightening uncomfortably.

"Just kill me then, I don't care." She whispered back, challenging him yet again. Sakura knew he wouldn't, unless pushed past a certain point. But maybe that's exactly what she wanted, to keep pushing until one of them cracked and ended her misery.

He sneered, and for a second she thought he would go through with it, but then his hand loosened just a bit allowing her to breath. "You don't get off that easy, yeah." Something passed in his eye, a fleeting emotion that came and went so quickly she doubted she had even seen it. It had almost looked like…pity? No way, he was a merciless killer he didn't care about other people or their pathetic lives, he took every available opportunity to let her know that. He had told her before he loved the art of blowing people to itty-bitty pieces, and given the chance she was sure he would be overjoyed to give her a taste of that art. He had no room for emotions like pity, or mercy. "But don't worry your time is coming, yeah." He added almost as an after thought, giving her another one of his shady grins.

"Go to hell asshole." She spat back, her anger mounting with his subtle threats and annoying know-it-all smirks. "And take your little speech impairment with you." She saw it coming, knew the moment those hateful words left her mouth it would be coming, but it came as a shock none-the-less. His free hand came at her open and fast, and she shut her eyes bracing for impact. Nothing came and for a split second she thought he had killed her. Then she felt the cool palm of his hand, and the graze of sharply-pointed teeth on her cheek. How utterly gross and embarrassing. Opening her furious, emerald eyes she saw he was still grinning deviously at her, as though he had won their little competition.

"You really shouldn't test me, I'm not a patient man yeah." He wasn't a man at all actually, the thought giving her some satisfaction, he probably hadn't even gone through puberty. His hand-mouth suddenly licked her blushing cheek causing Sakura to shake with maddening anger. "Now it's time for little brats with smart-ass mouths to go to sleep." Reaching inside his coat with the hand that had almost hit her, he pulled out a long, slender needle. Sakura couldn't help the panic that began to set in.

"No!" She yelled struggling all she could against his iron grip, "O hell no!" There was no way she was going to be put to sleep, not again. Not when those horrible nightmares and memories were waiting for her to shut her eyes.

She heard him growl in frustration, "Sakura hold still or I'm going to miss and hit somewhere extremely unpleasant, yeah." Of course she recognized the threat for what it was; stop with being a hassle or the needle is going in the face. She didn't care as far as she was concerned that needle wasn't going to poke her at all. His weight shifted and for just a split second she found one of her arms free. It was quickly put to use.

Faster than Deidara had ever thought she could move, her clawed hand came up and raked across his unblemished cheek. Shocked at her sudden attack he dropped her to the ground, along with the needle and felt his face. Blood, lots of blood, the cuts were deep and ran from his scope to the bottom of his jaw.

O God, he was going to kill her. Sakura looked up to see the damage done and gasped when she saw a facial bone showing through, half his face torn to shreds. Bones really are white she thought morbidly, staring in disbelief at the amount of damage her nails had inflicted. She had never before raised a hand against one of her caretakers, sure she pulled little stunts to grate on their nerves but never something as violent as this. Sakura could tell he was pissed, he was practically shaking with explosive rage. She didn't dare move, and for several seconds all was silent and still.

Then it came his heavy boot kicking her hard in the side, launching her lithe form across the room. She hit the wall and swore she saw stars. "You little bitch, yeah." Even through the pain she almost laughed at how ridiculous that had sounded, his accent made him sound like an idiot sometimes. Her vision blurred but she could still make out his dark shape stalking towards her. She could taste blood, warm and metallic on her tongue. Her sides hurt so bad, she knew he had broken something.

Deidara lifted her up easily clutching the front of her shirt, he shook her hard, the agony was jarring, her ribs screaming and throbbing sharply. She couldn't breathe. "Your going to pay for this, yeah. By the time I get done with you your going to wish for a needle." She closed her eyes willing herself to ignore the pain--to ignore him. She honestly hoped she had finally managed to push him over the edge, she didn't ever want to wake up.

--

Darkness, that's all there was, surrounding and enveloping her in its cool embrace. She felt better here, she felt safe like nobody could hurt her. The pain was gone, the misery and grief that had consumed her were no more. It must be death she thought, it wasn't so bad; in fact it felt pretty good. If she were to stay here for the rest of eternity she wouldn't mind one bit. She could finally rest in peace, and not be haunted by her tormenting dreams or the specters of her mysterious past.

Something shifted in the shadows, Sakura felt it move more than saw it. Not even her night-vision could penetrate the pitch-black here. "Who's there?" She asked, surprised at the calm in her voice.

Laughter rang out startling Sakura, it was a deep and disturbing laugh that caused goose bumps to rise on her arms and legs--it sounded very familiar. "It's rude to ask such questions when you are the visitor to my lair, Sakura."

The peace and security she had felt was suddenly replaced with growing alarm and confusion. "What do you mean 'your lair'? Where am I?" She was now couched defensively ready to run or fight, whatever the case may be.

"You're being rude again, little girl." The voice was definitely not human, nor was it male or female. It was just spiteful and wicked, and O so familiar. Where had she heard that same silky timbre?

Before she could think of a possible answer she found a pair of huge glowing, amethyst eyes glaring right at her. Startled she gave a yell and fell backwards, she most definitely had not been expecting that. The eyes blinked at her and all she could do was stare in awe of their beauty, they radiated just enough light Sakura could make out an outlining of a face.

Her jade eyes widened when she realized just what exactly she was staring at; a cat, a huge predatory creature that seemed to be smiling malevolently at her. She had never in her life seen something as large as this, Sakura was sure it wouldn't have been able to fit in her room. From the violet glow of its shining, amused eyes she could tell it was laying on its side almost lazily regarding her. _I have to be dreaming…no way is this real. I may have been locked away for four years but I know reality from fiction, and a talking cat the size of a small building is not real._

"O but Sakura, I am quite real. I can promise you that." The pink-haired girl stared incredulously at the onyx-furred cat--that proved it, it had to be a dream she hadn't voiced her thoughts out loud. How could it reply to something it shouldn't have heard in the first place, unless it was another one of her awful dreams at work? "I can reply Sakura because your thoughts are very clear to me. I hear everything, I know everything. In this place I am omniscient, there is nothing hidden from me, your darkest secrets, your heart's desires, even your past life."

_Even your past life…_

Sakura swallowed hard at the cat's words, four of them ringing particularly loud. "Just what are you?" She asked trying to keep the panic and curiosity out of her voice, it didn't work and the whole sentence came out as agitated as she felt.

"Silly, silly girl. I am _who_ not a _what, _you would be wise to remember this. I do not take insults lightly." It lifted a huge paw then and began to delicately lick it as though it would not be bothered with her intrusions and apparently, insulting questions.

After a moment's pause to digest all that had been said and what was probably going to be said, she asked again in a carefully guarded tone, "Then _who _are you?"

The wet administrations to the paw stopped and Sakura was suddenly faced with the maw of the great cat, and two rows of impossibly huge razor-sharp teeth. She was hit with a blast of foul-smelling breath causing her to stumble backwards coughing uncontrollably. "You have finally asked something worth answering." It was grinning at her she realized when she backed up enough to get a look at the entire face. It was possibly the most evil, vile thing she had ever in her young life seen, she felt her insides churn just looking at it. "I am," There was a dramatic pause before continuing, "The two-tailed bijuu, _Nibi no Nekomata, _favored to the Death God, Demon of the Undead."

She supposed by the way the panther's voice took on a proud, superior tone she was supposed to be very impressed--possibly groveling, but she had no idea what it had meant by that long, overly-done title. So she stood there looking bewildered, not quite sure of what to say next. "Foolish, idiotic girl you have no idea the power that resides in you." She was stupefied and alarmed at the black cat's sudden change in demeanor, almost as if he was offended by her confusion. It wasn't her fault she was ignorant! "Ignorant indeed."

The amused inflection was back, but Sakura was hardly joyful for it. _He said…power inside me. Could that possibly mean… _Her fogged seaweed-green eyes cleared with horrified understanding. "Yes girl inside you, do you finally understand? Can you see the unseen? Can you fathom what potential you have?" The cruel, knowing smirk grew bigger, more maniacal with each statement. "_We_ have…"

Sakura swallowed hard, this was so much to take in. How long had this thing been in her? It knew her past, it knew her current predicament. Could it have been in her from the beginning? Was it offering to help her? If so, then why? What could a creature this powerful gain from helping her? "Yes you brainless fool I am offering a way out of this dull, drab hellhole, but refer to me as a 'thing' again and I will crush your soul. You need not worry your witless little head over why, the reason is very simple."

Sakura put on a devilish smile, "If the reason is so simple then perhaps my witless little head will be able to grasp the reasoning behind your motives."

There was a long pause, leaving Sakura to wonder if she had pushed the demon to far and it was going to go through with its earlier threat of crushing her soul. The feral grin had dissipated into a half-frown, but that twinkle of malicious mischeviosness never left the radiant purple eyes, "Perhaps…" The panther finally eluded.

Nothing more was said was several long tense moments, a fog thick with choking power descended upon her. She refused to show her alarm, standing before the mighty mandible of a demon cat, its beautiful, yet vicious-looking eyes trained upon her; watching, calculating. The rancid stench of its breath nauseating her to the point of wanting to puke. It was like death was being breathed on her; rotten and putrid. Trying her best to ignore the looming evil before her and trying not think of insulting remarks about said breath of death, she spoke, "And what pray-tell do you want in return for helping me?"

"So now the true question is asked," It chuckled darkly, Sakura couldn't help but blanch at the sound. "You agree then? You want my help in escaping?" The questions weren't eager in their tone, but she could sense a growing triumphant note each time the panther demon spoke. It made her uneasy to say the least, but she nodded none-the-less Nekomata may not be desperate but she was. Sakura wanted a life outside the four cold walls of her empty room, she wanted to experience the adventure, the romance, the sheer unprecedented excitement of living that her novels had described so often.

"Good," The cat practically purred the word. "All I ask for in return is your cooperation, now that's not so much to ask for compared to what I offer in return is it?"

The way the demon-cat was making the whole deal sound so easy made Sakura wary, it couldn't, _shouldn't,_ be so simple. Something was amiss…Sensing her hesitation Nekomata grinned, showing off monstrous-sized incisors, maybe the little fool wasn't as foolish as he had been led to believe. "You do want to become a shinobi, do you not? Imagine how powerful you would become with my help, you would be one of the best. Revered, respected." Her will was weakening, he could feel it. "Not even your captors, the Akatsuki would dare to challenge you."

That was all the push she needed; while Sakura was not one for power or wealth, she was all for paying back her captors for all the hell they had put her through--the torture, the mental anguish, the humiliation, and most of all those experiments, those appalling, ghastly experiments, she shuddered just from briefly thinking of it. The mere thought of challenging their authority--Not just pulling little pranks--was enough for her to look Nekomata in its glowing, scheming eyes and smile. "What would you have me do?"

The demon-cat gave a great bellowing laugh, it echoed hauntingly through the shadows of the abyss making the fine, pink hairs on Sakura's arms and legs stand on end. Apparently it was very amused at her change of mind, but more than that Nekomata was extremely pleased with his own cunning. "There is a seal holding back my chakra, I need you to remove it." He offered no further explanation as to how or why exactly it had been placed there in the first place, but then she hadn't expected one.

"Where is this seal?" The impatience in her tone was not lost on Nekomata, but he chose to ignore it, for now.

With the grace only a cat could possibly possess it stood on all fours, sleek black-furred muscles rippling with the movement, towering over the brave green-eyed girl. The odor of a rotting corpse soon followed, almost overwhelming her sensitive nose. "Follow closely, or you will be lost within your own mind." Sakura reached out as though to grab the panther's onyx-colored fur but stopped when she saw it was watching her with a warning glare, "Death is colder than any blizzard Sakura, do not touch me unless you wish to ice over."

She thought it had been the deep abyss that was so chilly, but she realized it was the demon radiating such intense cold. Quickly she pulled back her hand to her side, following Nekomata as close as she dared without losing sight of the great cat. The demon blended in so perfectly with the surrounding dark it was no easy feat keeping up with it. "There." It stopped so suddenly Sakura nearly ran into it, luckily though she was a nimble girl and dodged the cat's hind quarters in time.

Ahead there was a dim light, she could barely make out the tall golden gates that blocked the way. Of course, she thought amusedly, "We're in a cage." It wasn't a question, just a stated fact. A fact that turned the heated, very un-amused gaze of Nekomata on her.

The demon didn't reply just stared hard at her for moment, "You are correct." It admitted, shocking Sakura, "This is my lair, my prison, my _cage…_But not for long, the seal is beginning to weaken, even without your help in removing it, it would only be a matter of years before it broke."

"I see." She swallowed hard before asking her next obvious question. "Then why ask for my help?"

It grinned at her not quite as wickedly as before, just a knowing smirk. "Because my dear, foolish girl, you will be dead soon enough." Sakura stood there rigid at the news of her soon-to-be death, not so much the fear of her life ending, just the befuddling, cryptic claim. Why did it matter to this powerful, terrible creature if she perished? Again hearing her unvoiced thoughts it responded, "It matters because if you die, I die with you. We are connected Sakura, our life-lines are one and the same. The Akatsuki are planning to extract me from you, and use me as their slave for world domination. I am nobodies slave!"

Sakura had to bite back a cry of horror at the growled-out stated facts--Yes facts she realized, for everything the demon-panther had said rang true in her mind.

_But don't worry your time is coming, yeah_, the words of Deidara came back to her. In the rush of things she hadn't thought much of what he'd said, but now…

She feared for a moment the cat was using some sort of trick on her conscience to convince her of this instead of the true reason, but that made no sense and even as she stared into those scorching, violet-hued eyes she saw no treachery; only blazing anger, and indignation. She looked away unable to hold that burning gaze for long, "I will remove the seal, but I don't know how."

The air around them calmed, and the smug arrogant look returned. "Why that's the easiest part, it's like a sticker you just peel it off. I can't get near it, it senses my chakra signature and burns me like the very fires of hell." Nekomata turned its great head around towards the looming golden gates. "The seal will not harm you." He sounded almost jealous, but Sakura figured the whole situation was just getting to her she was imagining things or so she thought.

Taking a deep breath and nodding to herself resolutely she marched towards the obscure lighting, even with the reassuring words of the demon-cat she approached with heeded caution. The seal was easy enough to spot, it wasn't hidden like she had been expecting. She reached out hesitantly feeling the air around the strange, slightly-torn paper crackle with energy. It didn't hurt but it most certainly wasn't pleasant, her whole body tensed as the energy around the tag intensified, the rosy-pink hairs on her head stood straight on end. She felt her muscles twitch and spasm as the energy began exploring her chakra channels.

She wanted to run, to scream, to just get away from it, but she couldn't she had to do this. Gritting her teeth to stop the chattering and prevent her tongue from being bitten off, she touched the seal and all at once felt her arm go numb. Like fire and ice the feeling shot up her arm, to her shoulder. It was going straight to her heart, it spread so rapidly she couldn't possibly do anything to stop its deadly burning-cold decent.

_Wouldn't hurt, my ass._

Sakura only managed to peel the seal off about half-way before her body gave out. She fell backwards, her surprised, regretful eyes closing ever so slowly. It was laughing, the sound reverbating throughout the pitch-black corridors of her mind.

It was a trick…What exactly had she done?

_I've made a deal with the devil…_

There was no turning back.

--

To explain some things: I know Sakura is OOC, if you can't understand why she is OOC I recommend you go back and read carefully. Now as the story progresses her real personality will come to light, but as of this moment her life is pretty much screwed up so she is going to act screwed up.

You may also be wondering why Sakura made the comment that Deidara probably hadn't even gone through puberty. Well since Sakura in this story is 13 for now and Deidara probably isn't much older in the anime or manga I made his age close to hers. I tried to look up his age and all I found were very different opinions. One site said he was 110 lol. It doesn't matter much anyway.

Another thing is when Sakura refers to Nekomata as an 'it' it's because she doesn't know if he is male or female, Nekomata knows and refers to himself as 'he'. There you have it. I hope I answered most questions.

Thank you for your time in reading. D


	2. The Craving

Chapter Title: The Craving

Rating for this Chapter: Pg-15

A/N: Alrighty so here's the second chapter I hope everybody enjoys it. I'm sorry it took so long to write but sometimes I'm not feeling so inspired and other times I am inspired but just not sure how to express it. Thank you so much to all those that reviewed and added to favorites and alerts. One person asked if this was going to be like Resident Evil; the answer would be no I didn't intend for it to be like Resident Evil, I have actually never seen/played it (I don't know if it's a game or movie), so any coincidences are just that, coincidental. There isn't any Naru/Saku yet but there will be soon enough, probably within the next two chapters. Please leave any questions in the form of a review because I never check my email J.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the lyrics to Korn's song "Thoughtless"

_Thumbing through the pages of my fantasies_

_Pushing all the mercy down, down, down_

_I wanna see you try to take a swing at me _

_Come on, gonna put you on the ground, ground, ground _

He felt it, there was no way he could have not felt it. It was just to deadly and powerful to ignore. He sat up bolt-straight, the blood rushing from his head causing his shredded cheek to pound painfully, his vision blacking out for just a split-second. What the hell, was his first waking thought--his second was O shit. As soon as he could collect himself he was speeding through the Akatsuki's base, practically flying down its many darkened corridors. Already his hand-mouths were set to work, chomping and molding the hard cold clay into beautiful, explosive pieces of art.

Whoever, _whatever_ it was, was making no attempt what-so-ever to conceal itself. The waves of lethal chakra kept hitting him, making it hard to keep a firm resolve on not running in the opposite direction. He was no coward in any sense of the word, but his missing-nin instincts were kicking into over-drive; he had not survived so long as an S-class criminal in the bingo book by not picking and choosing his fights carefully. In this case though he had no choice, that destructive, noxious chakra was somewhere inside the base, somehow it had penetrated Akatsuki defenses, it could not be left alone to find their hidden secrets, and potentially devastating jutsu scrolls.

Like a winding maze, every twist and turn brought him closer to that potent, awesome chakra.

Deidara only wished at that moment he had somebody there with him to confront the unknown…

--

_So cold…_Sakura woke suddenly to find her whole body felt like it had endured an ice-storm, shaking and shivering. She couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't even open her eyes. But she was aware, aware of everything. The constant, agitating drip of water from the ceiling, the irritating buzzing of a house fly, the uncomfortable spring coils poking her sharply in her back. She could even hear Deidara's near-silent footsteps and his harsh, quiet breathing as he approached her room door as though he were stomping around screaming. _Gods! Can't he be quiet! Freaking annoying son of a…_Everything was making her angry, really angry, and she wasn't even completely sure why.

A weird pressure was building inside her, but it was more than just the maddening rage she felt imploding inside her. It was like a mass of pure, white-hot energy straining and pulling and expanding, like it wanted to explode but couldn't release itself. It was so hot, and yet she felt so cold, like the cold of a person near death as their soul leaves their physical body. The tension mounted, continued to build, she couldn't take it. This was worse than any pain, any anguish, any emotion she had ever felt; bad or good.

_**It's time, Sakura.**_

She didn't even register the whisper, all she heard was her own disturbing, bloodcurdling scream rip from her throat. The ball of energy burst, lighting her veins on fire, taking her to new heights of torment and pain. Sakura's large, watery eyes snapped open revealing a whole new world of sights to her, everything was so clear, so very, very crystal clear. She saw every crack in the wall, every colorless fiber in her old T-shirt, every small movement--including that aggravating, insignificant house fly that didn't seem to have a clue that it had earned the wrath of a possessed Sakura.

Deidara burst through the door just as his pink-haired prisoner disappeared from her bed. Long blonde hair, unfixed and very tangled, whipped about his blue eyes from the powerful wind howling in the now-very-bright room. Purple and onyx colored chakra swirled violently like a miniature hurricane, flashing and blinding his squinting eyes. Pieces of broken furniture were tossed carelessly around by the current as though they weighed nothing--the mad-bomber dodging the very same bed he had just been laying on the night before. The eye of the small, but vicious storm was facing away from him, her hand held up clenched in a tight fist.

_Sakura_? He thought completely shell-shocked, _what the hell happened, yeah?_

It was obvious she was furious, he could feel the waves of savage anger rolling off of her almost as keenly as he felt the deadly chakra whirling around him. He was so shocked by the whole ordeal he almost didn't see her dwarfish-size fist unclench revealing the gooey remains of what appeared to have once been a bug smeared across her palm. _Overkill,_ he thought with a tad bit of humor he wasn't really feeling at that moment.

"Deidara," The sudden sound of his name being uttered by the most wickedly-devilish voice he had ever had the displeasure of hearing left his mouth slightly agape. Her voice was twisted and joined together with another voice that was vile and deep like some unholy matrimony of sounds. "Deidara," She repeated, almost humorously this time, turning ever so slowly to face him. "If you don't shut your mouth the flies will get in." She suddenly flicked the bug's rolled-up sticky corpse right at his mouth, he barely managed to evade the tiny carcass. It imbedded itself in the wall behind him, and he was glad he hadn't tried to catch it.

It felt so good, the frighteningly-powerful chakra right at her fingertips, so deadly so…_Intoxicating._ Sakura could smell Deidara's confusion and hesitation, she could see the bead of sweat trickling a wet path down his torn, bloody cheek, she could hear his heart racing beating with the anticipation of her next move. "Lets play a game," She offered; the sweet soft alto synchronous with the low-pitched silky timbre. Sakura grinned cruelly at Deidara's unmasked tension, she easily saw the way his long-fingered hands twitched anxiously; _probably chewing his disgusting clay-bombs, _she thought inwardly amused he would actually think that could possibly help him.

"Lets play, yeah. I'm good at games." She gave him points for bravery, then detracted them on account she knew he wasn't at all good at games. The fact he never even really played along with her pranks all these years proving her point and resurfacing her hard-endured memories, she felt oddly saddened thinking about the lonely nights she spent sitting and crying alone in her four-walled prison; _always alone_.

The bewilderment at the sudden, unwanted emotion was soon replaced by a boiling rage that sweltered and blistered like a wound over an open fire. No, he had never went along with her childish games, he had only lost his patience and even beat her--vaguely she realized her broken ribs and other injuries she had received when she passed out were now healed. Never mind he was a heartless bastard, the mad-bomber of the power-hungry organization, Akatasuki; he was still human damn it, he could have done more for her, even if it would have been a little bit. At the very least it would have been _something_…

A large salty tear sprung from Sakura's glassy, now-violet hued eyes. And now he would pay for it, they all would. She would stop at nothing to tear their beating hearts out of their chests as they watched. _That is if they even have hearts, _she thought, seriously wondering if they did and morbidly wanting to find out.

Deidara watched Sakura's ever-changing emotions on her distorting face. They changed so fast he could hardly tell one apart from another, she seemed lost in some far-off wonderland, completely ignoring him or so it seemed. Not one to miss gaining an edge on his opponent he launched several bird bombs towards the swirling vortex, the resulting explosions blew up the entire room, knocking down the sandstone walls. The flying furniture was incinerated to ash, and the ceiling collapsed causing dust to disperse everywhere.

The very dirty blonde coughed and laughed all at once, feeling her chakra level dying under the massive weight of the ceiling. _Squashed, like a bug yeah._ He spent a few minutes watching and waiting to make sure she was dead, her life so easily snuffed out by his detonating clay. So easy…Too easy. Those two little words kept nagging at him, _too easy._ Her chakra had been so devastatingly-powerful and it had been so simple.

_She hadn't been paying attention, _he reminded himself pointedly, though that seemed like a lame explanation. Unconvinced with his reasoning and wary of a sudden unexpected attack, he hid under some rubble concealing his chakra and staring intently at where he last felt her life energy. Everything was eerily silent, not even a sound from the exposed outside world penetrated the uncanny muteness. Moonlight, soft and silver, spilled over the decimated bedroom, the moon itself only half-full and half-way through its never ending cycle. The dust was beginning to settle though it still stung Deidara's sinuses--he had to control himself as to not sneeze or cough.

He sensed it, the sudden flaring of raw energy coming from directly under the caved-in roof. _Damn it, yeah. Knew it wouldn't be that easy._ There was a tremor in the ground, like the beginnings of a very nasty earthquake, they grew violent and Deidara worried his unstable hideout would crush him. A huge rock in the middle of the rubble and mess was sent sailing through the air crashing into and destroying an unfortunate tree right outside the base.

There she stood standing at the center of the swirling, twisting chakra, screaming and roaring all at once; the sound making Deidara cover his ears, it was unearthly and supernatural, terrifying and hair-raising, as though it came from the very bowels of hell.

She was far from dead.

The pink-haired hellion was gone in an flash, before Deidara could even think to move she reappeared before him kicking him hard in the head. Like the enormous rock she had thrown, he was sent flying, hitting and going through several walls before one managed to hold up and stop him. He couldn't even think, but his shinobi instincts were screaming at him to get up, to fight, to run, to do something, anything to protect himself. He just couldn't he felt as though his head had been ripped off, not to mention the sharp stabbing feeling in his neck. He prayed to any god that might be listening--though he doubted any would--he was not paralyzed.

His yellow hair lashed and thrashed about his face as the air around him began to crackle and whirl with raw, unrestrained chakra. He couldn't move his head to glance up but it was obvious she was there, standing before him probably about to finish the job of tearing his head off. Instead he was hauled effortlessly up above her lithe form, his feet dangling a good four or five inches above the ground. He was now able to get a good close-up look at her and personally he really wished he hadn't looked; the pure unadulterated malice and hate that blazed in her glowing violet-hued eyes made him feel as though a huge hole was being burned in his very soul. The savage, snarling look on her face was enough to alarm any hardened shinobi and he was no exception. She looked possessed, and she was he reminded himself.

"How does it feel?" She asked, though she knew for a fact he could not answer even if he had wanted to. "How does it feel to be the prey? The one at the mercy of another?" The demon-possessed girl shook him hard, sickeningly-fascinated at the way his head lolled side to side falling into painful unnatural positions. Sakura brought him closer to herself, his ear next to her mouth letting him feel her chilly breath on his broken neck. "Get used to it, you're going to be at the charity of others for rest of your days. I hope your little friends are as kind to you as they were to me. And by the way, you lost." She dropped him, letting him fall into a heap of motionless muscles and broken bones on the cracked sandstone floor.

She stared at him for several minutes, her rage icing over; his paralysis state acting as a balm to her rapidly cooling anger. It was enough he would never move again, or be able to hurt another innocent, she knew this fate was much more satisfying than just killing him and ending the misery he was going to be forced to endure. Not to mention he would act as a warning to the Akatsuki of what she was capable of, she wanted them to know she could and would destroy them in a heart-beat.

But what now?

Sakura walked back to where the original fighting took place, smiling genuinely happy when she saw the oddly shaped moon hanging in the starry night. She stood in awe at the sights and sounds around her, the chirping of gaily singing crickets, the gentle motion of the tree-tops as their branches swayed in the mild, balmy breeze, the tall grass moving from side to side like green baby's hair, so fine and delicate it looked.

Sakura was rooted to the spot as empty, undesired memories filled her mind, memories void of hope or love. This had been her hell, her prison, her…_home,_ for the past four years of her forlorn, solitary life. It was all she had known, if it hadn't been for her precious books she would not have known there was a world out there, a world of dreams and adventures, of life and happiness…of _freedom._ The sudden realization of her new liberty had her literally leaping in the air for joy. She spun, danced, screamed, cried, laughed; it was to much all the feelings and emotions overwhelming her sensibility.

_**Stop acting like a fool, you are not safe yet idiot girl.**_

Sakura immediately sobered at Nekomata's harsh, but very true words, she was not safe from the Akatsuki's ever reaching claws. Deidara may have been taken care of but there was still an unknown amount of other members out there--who knew how powerful they might be. Landing on the edge of the moonlit meadow, she looked out beyond the quiet, serene scene into the dark, welcoming forest. That, she decided, would provide ample cover until she decided on her next course of action.

The escapee bounded into the shadowy woods, ignoring her tired body's protests to much in good spirits to care she was half-starved and completely worn-out from the night's antics. She was _free._ Nothing else mattered, she had the whole world ahead of her. All she had to do was avoid the Akatsuki.

Little did she know nobody else had ever accomplished such a feat…

--

_I can't do it. _A frustrated growl emitted from somewhere deep in Sakura's mind.

_**You will! We can not keep traveling like this with you malnourished and weak. You can rip a person's heart out but you will not kill a worthless creature that will provide you vital**_ _**sustenance? This is moronic!**_

She inwardly blanched at the heated tone but absolutely refused to budge on the issue. _I know there has to be other things to eat, there's got to be something, anything besides this__**. **_Nekomata snarled giving her a pulsing headache from the sheer volume echoing in her mind. Though watching the strange furry creature hop around the clearing, completely oblivious to the danger made her large, bloodshot eyes soften. _I can't kill something that looks so innocent, I'd rather starve._

She relaxed when she felt the presence of the demon-cat calm somewhat, though crouched there hidden among the shrubs and thorny bushes she was still uncomfortable, and hungry so very, very hungry. Her own stomach betrayed her grumbling loudly, the animal's long fluffy ears twitched at the sound but it did not seem to be startled.

Four times the sun had risen to create the new day since she had left the Akatsuki hellhole. What an interesting and miserable four days it had been. Constantly on the alert for black cloaks, and silver-lined crimson clouds, she had not slept, eaten, or bathed, she truly was at a breaking point. She knew she was being followed, Nekomata had sensed huge chakra levels trailing her. The demon-cat had concealed her presence from the prying red eyes of the deadly shinobi who was currently in hot pursuit. One time he had been so close to her she could smell his unique scent of sandalwood and blood. It had been so long since she had last seen him, but she still remembered those calm, knowing eyes. Yes she remembered, she remembered everything…

Sakura shook herself free of the haunting memories and was about to leave to try to find some other form of food that didn't look at her with glassy, angelic, brown eyes when there was a sudden flash of black and gray. The fuzzy creature gave an alarmed, fearful cry as it was snatched up in the powerful maws of two ferocious wolves.

Sakura had to bite back her own scream of panic, covering her mouth with both hands. What was going on? They were ripping it apart! It was horrible! It was shrilling in pain, being pulled apart by the iron-grip of the wolves' mandibles. One shook its great head violently, the rabbit's crying grew louder, piercing, unbearable to listen to. Why wasn't she moving? Why wasn't she trying to help it? The sound of bone snapping and flesh ripping intermixed with the yelps of malicious-joy from the hunting pair. She watched horrified as the tiny creature's carcass was torn to shreds by snapping jaws.

Nekomata chuckled darkly.

The smell of blood filled her sensitive nose, making her vision hazy and her adrenaline start pumping. It smelled…good, really good. Sakura's survival instincts began kicking in over-drive, her bloodlust rising to new heights.

_So hungry…_

Forgetting her horror and nausea at the whole situation--the conscience reliable part of herself buried under the burden of near-starvation and wild bloodlust--She sprang into the clearing startling the fierce predators into dropping their dead prey. They growled eyeing her with hungry wantonness, both sets of blood flecked ears flat against their huge heads, rows of shining white teeth gleaming and baring at her. Both were so much bigger than she, but that didn't stop the tiny pink-haired green-eyed beast from savagely snarling right back at them. The aura of pure blood thirst and power emanating from her had both the wolves tails tucked between their legs, one even whimpering.

All it took was her making a fake lunge at the hunters and they were scampering off to take cover in the over-grown woods, leaving the mutilated corpse behind. Deep inside under the maddening starvation and blood-craving Sakura was grateful she didn't have to dispose of the beautiful, yet deadly pair.

She felt sick when she knelt next to the rabbit corpse, carefully peeling off a piece of red, gory meat. Hesitant the dripping substance hovered close to her mouth, the smell of the crimson liquid was utterly intoxicating, but the revolted part of her kept it at bay. Her mid-section felt as though it were lit on fire, and the torment of the sharp hunger-pangs was becoming more than she could handle. It was a losing battle. Without a second thought she popped the bloody strip in her drooling mouth delighted and disgusted at the bittersweet taste.

_Where has this blood-thirst come from? Is there no hope for my humanity? _She felt her tired eyes burn with unshed tears at the cruelty and injustice of the animal's slaughter and ultimate demise. She hadn't lifted a single finger to save it, she had been so startled by the sudden violence. Such violence…

The demon-panther gave a bellowing laugh that just plain-out pissed her off, why did he always find such amusement at her suffering and inner battles? _**My dear foolish Sakura, you truly are naïve. Hope is the rejection of what is, a person who clings to hope will be destroyed by their own stupidity and helplessness. Do not speak of such things as hope it is utterly fatuous and simply laughable. Surely you of all humans, who has been through so much pain and anguish would know that what I say is true.**_

Those words were like a bucket of ice water being thrown over her, they left her feeling numb and so empty she felt like breaking down and sobbing, but she didn't; instead she took those spiteful, virulent words to heart, and continued to slowly peel the flesh from the bone and eat. Nausea almost making her spit it all back up.

_**This is the world we live in Sakura, the weak are hunted down and dealt a fatal blow while the strong enjoy and take part in such activities. That is the law of the living, do not try to deny or change it, you will fail miserably. Humans are no exception, they tend to be even more animalistic than the beasts of nature. **_

Even if it was the truth, even if it was the law, it hurt a lot to hear it said. She had been so heartened and hopeful at her escape. For the first time that she could remember she had thought she had a new reason for living, to find life and cling to it, to destroy those who had done injustice to her, to maybe someday find her parent's murderers. But now she had to ask herself- What was the point? Iniquity and cruelty would continue to dominate as long as there was evil. She alone could not stop it, how could she when she herself was harboring a monster of death and destruction, utilizing the death cat's powers for her own selfish ends?

_There must be something worth living for out there, _she thought much to Nekomata's amusement, _and I will find it…_

--

"Fuck you, Kisame!" The blonde, mad-bomber yelled causing the shrak-nin to roar with belly-shaking laughter, nearly falling out of his wooden chair. "I swear I'm going to--"

"Your going to what? Pout me to death?" He gave another great laugh at his own joke, wiping an imaginary tear from under his odd round eye. "Now take your food like a good baby." Again Kisame dipped his silver utensil into the mush--his own cooking--spooning up a good amount. Leaning over Deidara's prone form he began creating airplane noises by pursing his thin, blue lips and blowing through them. Several droplets of spit landed on the furious blonde's forehead and tangled hair. He sent the dripping spoon flying around the angry, embarrassed face of Deidara, trying his very hardest not to laugh and spill it all over him.

"I am not a fucking baby, yeah!" The look in his cobalt eyes was murderous, but the sulking pout on his lips was more than Kisame could take, he shook with barely contained laughter. A clump of the gross-smelling mush dropped just below his nose, the smell making Deidara sick to his stomach. "Watch where your spilling that shit! It's deadly."

"Could you mother-fuckers be quiet for five minutes, some people like silence while trying to perform a complicated jutsu. Especially you, you little ungrateful pussy." Hidan's sudden out burst had them both looking at him (Deidara glaring heatedly from the corner of his ocean-blue eye, not able to turn his head to get a good look) sitting in the far corner of the room, surrounded by what seemed like hundreds of glowing candles.

"Bah! This is boring anyway, get Tobi to feed you." Deidara's eyes widened in unmasked horror at that suggestion; he'd much rather starve. The last time the overly joyful, extremely eager Akatsuki tried to feed him he had shoved spoonful after spoonful of mash into his mouth without even waiting for him to chew or swallow. Deidara had promptly spit all of it up thus earning his new mortifying nickname from Kisame--Baby. That had been a week ago and still the teasing had not let up.

Kisame left, thinking it was very funny to leave the over-flowing bowl of mush on Deidara's stomach, he had no control on whether it spilled on himself or not. He watched warily as with each breath his stomach lifted and fell, the bowl tipping and teetering to one side and then the other; Damn him.

The paralyzed teenager sighed resigning himself to waiting. The quiet mumbling and whispering of Hidan, deep in concentration and praying to his God gave him great comfort. At least he wouldn't be helpless forever like he had thought, and when he could move again he would find her, hunt her down to the ends of the earth for all the embarrassment and pain she had put him through. His reputation was now in shambles thanks to that nuisance of a brat. The last thing she had said to him played back in his mind, his anger flaring at the memory.

'_And by the way, you lost', _the words repeating in his head, taunting him, the repetition driving him insane.

_I never lose, yeah._

The bowl fell over, Deidara cursed.

--

Sakura nearly laughed out-loud at the sight before her, high in the treetops sitting on a branch strong enough to support her weight, she had finally spotted the first signs of civilization. About two maybe three miles away was a village, the straw huts and pillar of smoke marking it as such.

She wasn't sure how long it had been since her cataclysmic breakout of the world's most feared and revered criminal's organization's hideout, but it sure felt like a long time. It felt like it had been months though she was positive it hadn't been _that_ long, at the very least she knew that much.

Sakura had been wandering aimlessly since that incident, neither her or Nekomata had any idea where she might be, and both had no sense of direction what-so-ever. Either that or he really just didn't give a damn about where she went. Her only hope of finding a ninja city where she might learn to become a shinobi was in finding a place where directions could be asked--now here was her opportunity not a mile away. Soon she could start the life she had always dreamed of, the adventure, the excitement, the freedom.

Sakura nearly fell off a tree branch, about a hundred feet off the ground. Her daydreaming replaced with an over-whelming sense of dread and trepidation, something was wrong. The smell of death and smoke wafted from the direction of the quant village, screams of despair and desperation met her sensitive ears. She picked up her speed somehow sensing evil was afoot, and suddenly angry though she had no reason to be, _yet_.

"My baby! My baby! Please no, please!" The choked half-screamed half-sobbed plea was coming from a woman in her mid-thirties, her pretty face contorted in pure agony. She was being held back by a medium-built man, his eyes gleaming in a cruel manner, thin lips grinning at the woman's distress. A large crowd was formed in a semi-circle around them watching helplessly, obviously just as distraught as the crying girl.

A hut was burning in front of them, the hot, hungry flames licking and crawling up the sides of its straw walls. Black, thick smoke rose high into the sky curling and dissipating into the atmosphere. Two armed ninjas stood guard near the door of the blazing house, one was sneering much like his apparent comrade holding a sharp kunai out before him as if daring one of the civilians to try and save whoever was inside. The other was more hesitant-looking, his face marked by guilt and his eyes darted about nervously as though expecting some evil monster to come leaping out of the woods.

Which is in fact what happened.

Sakura did not stop to try and understand the situation, nor did she falter at her shock of seeing people other than the Akatsuki for the first time she could remember. All she knew was somebody needed her, possibly a child. Neither of the guarding ninjas could have possibly stopped the blur of movement that crashed through the blackened door, knocking down the obstacle as though it were nothing--it was only straw after all.

'_**This is the world we live in Sakura, the weak are hunted down and dealt a fatal blow while the strong enjoy and take part in such activities.' **_The death cat's spiteful words came back to her with a vengeance as she entered the smoking, darkened room. The shrill cries of an infant guided her to a kitchenette area, or rather what was left of it. The smell of burnt flesh made her head spin, and she prayed it wasn't the babe's. The room was bright with bursting flames, the light making it almost impossible to see through the smoke and ash.

Luckily the baby was loud enough to follow with its insistent wailing and bawling. She was able to spot the small, wiggling form wrapped in an ash-covered blanket on top of a combusted table. The flames making their way towards the babe, eager to consume the tender flesh. Quickly Sakura picked up the crying child, cradling it protectively against her chest.

_Those bastards. _How could they do this? Burning a baby alive while forcing the mother to watch helplessly. They were using their powers to do a great evil against an innocent person; innocent because in Sakura's heart she knew nothing that the mother or the village could have done could have warranted such a vile act of inhuman wrongdoing.

The building was going to collapse soon, the groaning of the weakened walls warning the now violet-eyed Sakura of the imminent danger. She wanted to look at the baby's face, curious as to what a tiny human looked like, but at the same time not wanting the poor thing to inhale the deadly, choking smoke. The child had gone completely, eerily silent, Sakura's now-demonic presence frightening it into hushed submission.

Her pent-up anger grew hotter than even the inferno around her. It broiled and sweltered like a lava building up inside a volcano, ready to explode with its all-consuming rage.

'_**That is the law of the living, do not try to deny or change it, you will fail miserably.'**_

_I won't deny the immorality or the fault of these humans,_ she thought, her fury turning into a sudden crazed thirst for spilled blood. _But I think I will change them, quite permanently._ Her inner thinking was met with reticence, and the undeniable sick blood-lust she had been experiencing so much of as of late.

Her cat-like eyes adjusted to the light of dusk as she exited the caving-in hut. She was greeted by the unbelieving stares of the villagers and the confounded looks of the ninjas. Bathed in the crimson light of the sunset, pink hair red as blood, narrowed angry eyes glowing with a rage and fury none of them could possibly comprehend, the roaring fire crackling behind the mysterious girl like a pyre for their own funerals; the sight was overwhelming for most of them, some even fleeing from the hellish scene.

All the desperate mother saw however was the tiny bundle clutched carefully against the girl's bosom. Pushing passed her captor--he was currently to shocked to breathe or even begin to hold the struggling parent from her offspring--she ran straight to Sakura ignoring the way the air pulsed with lethal energy, and how the aura around the girl was so cold she felt like her very soul would freeze over despite the hot blazing flames of the bonfire so near them. All she wanted was her baby, the only thing she had left to live for in this cruel uncaring world.

With outstretched arms she reached for her child, sobbing with unveiled joy as she approached. She didn't dare look up into those scorching, amethyst eyes as the noiseless babe was handed to her. Tears streaking her dirty but pretty face she pulled back the covers of the blackened blanket, revealing a pair of scared aqua-colored eyes. The child's face was pale with fright but so pure and angelic Sakura hardly noticed the tensed look. It began wailing, recognizing its mother.

'_**Humans are no exception, they tend to be even more animalistic than the beasts of nature.'**_

The monster that was Sakura stalked past the bawling pair, her dangerously narrowed eyes trained on only three, trembling people, if they could be called such things as human beings. She could feel Nekomata's excitement at the carnage that was about to take place, Sakura to far-gone within her almost-crazed anger to care. All she wanted to do at that moment was to satisfy her uncontrollable craving for blood, she didn't just want to kill them she wanted to see them suffer, she wanted to taste their fear and panic as they felt their life slipping from their reaching grasp.

She stopped about ten feet away from the bullies, the crowd of villagers had dispersed leaving them to fend for themselves. The apparent leader of the cowardly trio stood in front of her arms crossed attempting to appear undaunted by Sakura's deathly-cold presence, of course she saw through his façade just as easily as she saw his brow bead with nervous sweat--his display of bravado utterly wasted on her. The other two did not do so well under the demonic pressure of her seething anger, the guilty-looking one she had took note of earlier was shaking so badly it looked as though he were going to drop his kunai; the other, like his dastardly leader, strived to show no fear a sneer marring his otherwise handsome face, but all his work of looking bold and unimpressed was ruined by the fact his eyes were very much wide with obvious dread and terror.

She didn't say anything, just watched their apprehension consume them as the dying sun cast her in a bloody-scarlet. Her face darkening with growing hate, eyes trained upon them as if daring one of them to make a move…Wanting one of them to make a move.

"So you think your going to play savior to these treacherous villagers?" It was the leader who spoke first, his voice grating on her nerves, igniting even more of her welcomed rage. "Well your wrong girlie, these people are mine and when I decide to punish a lying slut I'm going to punish her. And when I get done with you it's going to be much, much worse for her. You shouldn't have interfered."

A wicked, deep-throated laugh sounded from behind him, he whirled around sensing the demonic chakra flare and pulse suddenly from his backside. "Hajime!" He wanted to turn around and see what his youngest teammate was screaming about but he couldn't take his gawking eyes off the maniacally-grinning girl, her razor-sharp fangs gleaming crimson. How had she moved so fast? "Brother! No, no, no…" Above the despairing screams of Ichiro he could hear the sickening gurgling of someone desperately trying to take in air but only swallowing blood. The thud of flesh hitting hard dirt confirmed what the leader had feared; Hajime was dead.

Ichiro let loose a bone-chilling scream of rage-filled sorrow as he failed to catch his older brother's falling form. The emotional trauma slowed his movements, his limbs feeling strangely leaden. Everything seemed lagged like in a dream; and maybe it was a dream he half-hoped, the flame of denial burning in his conscience. Reality just to much to handle in that awful moment.

It wasn't a dream though, the slick crimson liquid spurting from his brother's ripped-out jugular with each slowing pulse of his heart was just to hot, wet, and real to ignore. Hajime's mouth was agape trying to breathe or scream, Ichiro couldn't tell which. His usually confident brown eyes were wide with panic and pain, the light in them dying out like a flame flickering in a strong wind. He was drowning in his own blood the red-headed boy realized, appalled his own brother would die in such a way. His brother, his only living relative, his…_hero_. "Brother, I'm so sorry." Ichiro didn't know what to say in that profound moment, his own voice betraying his weakness with squeaky uncertain syllables. He didn't get a another chance to say what he wanted, not that Hajime could hear him through the encroaching blackness. His body gave one last shudder before completely going limp.

With sweaty shaking hands Ichiro closed those darkened eyes forever, he would never see those eyes open again, never see them fill with pride for his little brother's hard-earned achievements. He was gone, the only person he had left to live for was dead. The finality of the word hit him hard, the last remnant of his sanity snapping like a dried twig.

"Run Ichiro…" He barely heard the soft whisper through his fog of crazed loathing and deep-hearted sorrow. He thought maybe it had been his brother come back from the dead to warn him, disheartened he realized it was only Koji. Koji, the one who had brought them into this ghastly, bloody mess, the one inadvertently responsible for his brother's untimely demise; what a coward and to think he had held Koji in the highest respect second only to his brother.

"How dare you--" He began his voice cracking with the strain of grief, hot tears burning streaks down his young face. "How dare you tell me to run from my brother's murderer!" He stood suddenly his light-brown eyes, blood-shot and watery, staring with open hate at the cat-like girl her wild pink hair shadowing her ever-smirking face. "She will die!"

Sakura watched the boy, no older than herself, charge with reckless abandon his emotions obviously overpowering his common sense; if he even had any. _**Fool, **_whispered Nekomata enjoying the dramatic display of tragedy--Sakura less so but her disdain withstanding of the child killers despite her goodly conscience objecting to their destined punishment.

In the sanguine dusk he appeared to be some valiant warrior rushing towards his enemies like in the books she used to cherish and read so fervently, but in reality this Ichiro--as they had called him--was nothing more than the grief-stricken sibling of a spineless killer who was about to be dealt out her woeful wrath.

'_**Hope is the rejection of what is, a person who clings to hope will be destroyed by their own stupidity and helplessness.'**_

He was hoping she realized, he was hoping he would have the power to destroy her. Even as the red-head ran towards her so obviously overmatched he was hoping by some miracle he could summon the strength to fight her and actually win. Hope truly was denial, fruitless and dangerous. What Nekomata had said was true, it was all so very, very true; the events unfolding before her was all the proof she needed.

Sakura's cruelly-clawed hands seized the boy's scrawny neck before he could utter another annoyingly-cliché line of vengeance. He gasped struggling to breathe in her vise-like grip, she squeezed relishing the way the blood pulsed and moved beneath the vulnerable flesh of his throat. "Let…m…me go." The words tumbled out in a choked manner almost undecipherable.

Violet-glowing eyes mad with glee stared into his bitterly-defiant brown ones, reminding her so much of herself when one of the Akatsuki would corner her and…She shook herself of those gruesome memories immediately; this was not the time or the place to be nostalgic. Her anger broiled and unconsciously her hold tightened causing his alarmed eyes to bulge with the powerful exertion. His body temperature was rapidly dropping from being in her deathly-cold proximity; shaking and jerking uncontrollably. Hypothermia would soon set in, the blood that been rushing through his veins moments before was now freezing and slowing down. She remembered what the demon-cat had warned her about death being like a blizzard, turning everything in its decaying path to ice. It appeared she was now immune to the polar temperatures, or was it her heart had already turned to ice?

"Your brother was a craven fool, he deserved what fate dealt out to him. And now you will also be dealt such a fate." The voices of an angel and a demon melded together in such a harmonious fashion must have caught the dying boy by surprise, but he could no longer show it. His jaw was clenched together, his face forever in a stubborn expression of denial, the muscles frozen in place. Breath no longer entered his hardened lungs, life no longer lit his earth-colored eyes. The flame had been extinguished; he was dead. With a chakra-strengthened hand she shattered the corpse into a thousand multi-colored pieces, watching as they scattered across the dusty road.

Koji had stood through the whole execution of his young friend in mute horror, to terrified of the abomination before him to even begin to run away, help, or move. He felt the temperature descend uncomfortably as she stalked towards him, her other-wise pretty face contorted in maniacal mirth, eyes aglow with sadistic glee. What was she? Never had he faced such a demonic power before and in a small child of all things! He was beginning to shiver whether from the frigid chill or apprehension of her approach he didn't know, and if he had to guess he would say both. The child-monster didn't say a word and for that he was partly grateful for he had heard her speaking with Ichiro, and he had no desire to ever hear such a dreadful sound as that again.

She began forming quick hand-signs, muttering under her fogging breath. He was glad he didn't recognize the jutsu he was sure it was going to be painful enough without anticipating it. Her bright purple eyes were trained on him the entire time wanting to see his dying expression, he attempted to make his face blank as to not give her the grim satisfaction and failed miserably--the gravity of the situation overbearing any thoughts of being brave or bold. Then it came, the last hand-sign was made and an icy-hot sharp pain shot through his body, lucky for him he died instantly.

Sakura closed her eyes feeling the spray of blood sear her skin with its hot-wetness, disgusting yet utterly delicious. Nekomata appeased for the moment with the complete and total slaughter let his bloodlust within her die, the feeling being replaced by a numb-emptiness. The demon-cat's glacial aura withdrew deep within herself back into its cage where it belonged. Her now sea-green eyes traveled upwards clearly seeing in the darkening gloom what normal eyes could not, the body of Koji raised above her about fifteen feet impaled by a column of ice. His visage twisted in a strange expression of wretched agony and peace only death could produce.

Would she ever be able to feel that kind of peace? Probably not, Nekomata was a powerful being with ties to the Death God of all things. He needed her alive in order to survive himself, their life strings were forcefully tied together in a tangled knot she didn't think she would ever be capable of untying.

She sunk to her knees, not having the strength to stand on her own two feet any longer from the long, miserable week of running, hiding, and fighting. With preternatural eyes she stared blankly at the carnage she had wreaked upon the dishonorable trio of murderers, feeling no remorse of her violent actions despite her kicking and screaming conscience; the only part left in her that really was sane, the only part that was compassionate anymore. And once that was gone, she thought what would be left?

_A monster…_

An insane, conniving monstrosity of a beast, devouring anything and anyone in its destructive path. A being of darkness and death striving only to satisfy that maddening craving for blood, a slave to its own savage lusts--never satisfied, always wanting. In that moment of enlightenment Sakura vowed she would never become like the thing residing inside her, she would save her soul even if it meant ending her life.

_Nekomata you said you would never be anyone's slave, but you are. I will never become like you, I will find what it is that is worth living for and I will protect it no matter what the cost._

Her boldly outspoken thoughts were only met with mocking, bestial laughter ringing deep from her mind causing a shiver to run the length of her spine.

_**O but Sakura you already are just like me…**_

**_--_**

A/N: I wanted to mention that some scenes may seem frivolous but they do have a point, and will be used later. Also the Akatsuki scene was just for humor and to let people know that Deidara's part in the story is not done, and he will be coming back later. Thank you for reading. J


	3. The Truth in Lies

Chapter Title: The Truth in Lies

Chapter Rating: PG-13

A/N:

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the lyrics to "The Priest and the Matador" by **Senses Fail**

_I'm the arrow_

_Shot straight to hell_

_My body lies kissing the ground_

_Like a cross turned upside down_

You shouldn't be able to tell reality from a dream when you're experiencing one, but Sakura could. She was seeing the world through the untainted eyes of a child, a very happy child, herself to be exact. Everything appeared breathtaking and exciting hand-in-hand with her murdered and murderous parents, walking down a village road she recognized but didn't remember. The stalls of colorful merchandise and yelling vendors made her younger-self smile brightly, oblivious to the disdainful stares and harsh whispers of the villagers.

The Sakura that was not nine years old noticed, as did her protective mother and father. Unconsciously her wary father tightened his grip on little Sakura's hand, and her mother looked down upon her smiling sadly. To the child everything seemed perfect; to the observer it was anything but. It was all so familiar and confusing, the sound of merchants bickering with buyers, the smell of cooking meats and spices, her parents…her village.

It was a memory of her childhood, she realized a chill of uneasiness running through her conscience. Her life had begun here, and in many ways ended here. How many times had she dreamt of this very same road covered in spilled blood, rampant with screaming victims? She herself running away and crying at the destruction and death her own parents had created. What exactly had happened here to cause them to massacre their own village? The circumstances were so vague, clouded over with questions in dire need of answers.

A tall shadowy figure lurking in a back alley suddenly caught her attention, the familiar jingle of bells filling her with blinding panic and dread. She couldn't help but gawk memorized by a pair of crimson orbs peering at her from the darkness, sinister and beautiful. Her father had noticed also and visibly tensed, staring nervously at said mysterious figure.

_Itachi…_

"Toshi?" Little Sakura barely registered her mother's worried whisper so smitten was she by those captivating eyes. The observing Sakura however was anything but enchanted, instead she felt the raw instinctive feeling of alarm well up inside her, telling her to run or hide. _Don't look; _she tried to will her younger self to look away from the deadly, red orbs expecting the genjutsu to drag her into the tsukuyomi's world of torture. However, nothing happened.

Her father broke the heated glaring just long enough to give her concerned mother a reassuring smile and Sakura a pat on her pink head. "It's fine dear there's some business that needs to be handled that's all. Just take Sakura home, lock the doors, and don't come out for anything or anybody. I'll come home soon, promise."

"But Toshi--"

"Don't question me Asumi!" He snapped his face very near a snarling expression, eyes as green as Sakura's burning with urgency. "Go now." There was no room for argument in that tone and her mother didn't dare try to convince him otherwise.

Sakura soaked it all in, trying to make sense of the strange situation, her own father meeting with the Akatsuki. On business? She knew the sort of business the Akatsuki did, and it wasn't the kind she could say she would be proud of her father for. It was truly unnerving to find out her parents had been involved with such a vile cult of villains.

They stood there long enough to watch Toshi, her handsome white-haired father approach the aloof Uchiha for their shady dealings, whatever they may have been. Again, she heard the soft sound of bells jingling in the breeze as her mother suddenly whisked her away.

It was strange being carried by her deceased mother. Her mother's strong arms encasing her in an envelope of protection and security felt unbelievable. This must be what it feels like to be loved, the observing Sakura thought sadly. She couldn't help but think of what could have been, and at that moment, her heart ached with a longing as it had never before.

Her family's home wasn't far from the village. It was a small cottage made of timber walls and a thatch roof, many of the windows, she noticed, were shattered. There was a garden skirting the front sides of the house, it must have been flourishing once but now the gaily-colored flowers were trampled and withered, the vegetables shriveled and dead. The garden wasn't the only thing neglected; the inside of the cottage was in just as bad shape if not worse. It was bigger than it had looked on the outside, and had somewhat of a quaint feeling to it--the charm ended there. It smelled moldy and old like people hadn't lived in it for quite some time. The furniture appeared rotted, a round table supported only by three legs and surrounded by four chairs looked ready to fall over, a couple of futons in the far corner of the room were some of the only signs that there were residents. No pictures hung from the bare walls, the only décor she could see were the cobwebs hanging in the high corners. It was cold, it was dark, and she would dare say it was even more depressing than her old room at the Akatsuki hideout, but it was home. Her home.

The mother she had never remembered except in nightmares left her standing in the open doorway, going to rummage through an empty cabinet for food. She looked back at Sakura confused as to why she was just standing there looking around as though she had never seen her own house before. "Come in Dear, you're letting the chill in." No response was forth coming, only a haunted stare was her answer. "Sakura? What's wrong with you? Come in." Sighing with impatience, in no mood for her daughter's games she closed the cabinet and walked back over to the doorway. Asumi's irritation dissipated when she saw tears' running down Sakura's paled face.

"Mommy?" Her voice sounded confused and pitiful.

"What is it, Sakura?" Asumi held her daughter at arms length staring into her watery, green eyes feeling for all the world like she was looking into somebody else's eyes.

"Why am I so sad?"

--

"She's pretty, huh Granny Cheik?"

The elder of Sokumoti Village solemnly nodded her agreement, wiping away the sweat from the brow of the sleeping girl. She was very pretty, with thick sooty lashes, pale cheeks flushed with fever, and pouting pink lips. She could, and probably would, make any girl glow green with jealously. However, there was more than just a lovely face; there was a maturity that had not been there before. A dark, menacing aura emanated from her slumbering form, hovering like an evil cloud, forever eclipsing the warmth of the soul it smothered. She has changed so much, the elder thought frowning, and certainly not for the better.

"When will she wake up?" Cheiko ignored the incessant talking from her assistant, too caught up in her memories and thoughts to listen to useless questions.

What happened to you, Sakura? Where did you go? Why did you do it? The same questions she had not asked herself for years came back to her in a tide of anger and resentment. For her young helper's sake, she tried to keep her growing emotions under a stoic mask, but they were too strong to hold back. Memories of her home burning to the ground, of her own child dead yet living, of the dying begging for her to save them…Memories of Sakura, the child that had stolen her heart, that brought her flowers to make her smile, that made her medicine when she was too sick to make her own. The child that had loved her just as much as she had her. She thought of two nights ago when after four years missing she appeared the same way she had disappeared, in a terrifying vortex of death and destruction. She had killed three people without hesitation, it had seemed as though she had taken a great amount of pleasure in murdering them. No, the elder corrected, she had not--It had.

The monster. The killer. The demon.

Two nights ago, the Elder realized two things. First, Sakura was alive; she had not been consumed by the evil that dwelled within her. She had saved a baby, Cheiko's own grandchild in fact, and really, in the end she had saved the whole village from the bully ninjas. Though Sakura was lost in the darkness, it was possible for her to find the light, but not likely. Second, she knew the demon sealed twelve years ago within this little girl was growing stronger. Somehow he had managed to loosen the bonds of the powerful enchantment, and slowly but surely he was coming back into the world.

Right now, they had a chance to stop him, for the last time--A chance to save Sakura's soul. All it would take would be a quick slice of a blade, painless, efficient. Such a simple thing to stop the tragedy she was sure would occur when this monster escaped its prison. Not if, when. Not such a simple thing to put it into action. "Masoto."

The child looked up from his ramblings not realizing his grandmother had not heard a word of it, "Yes Grandmother?"

"Go fetch me the medicine herbs. They will be in a wooden box on my shelves. Go quickly now." Before I change my mind, she added silently. Masoto, though confused, did not dare argue, not when his grandmother used that cold tone of voice. He hated it when she sounded like that.

"Yes Grandmother." He left hastily with one last glance at the mysterious girl who had saved his baby brother, his mother, and his entire village. Masoto was halfway to his grandmother's small cottage on the far side of town when he realized he had forgotten her key. Rushing back he burst through the tent flaps, "I'm sorry Grandmother, I forgot the--" He stopped mid-sentence not quite believing what he was seeing with his own innocent eyes. His old wise grandmother, whom he respected and loved, was leaning menacingly over the slumbering girl, a large butcher knife pressed with deadly precision against her jugular.

A thin line of blood appeared as Grandma Cheiko cut with agonizing slowness. "Grandma! What are you doing?" The sudden appearance of her young assistant frantically yelling was enough to pause the elder, but the razor-sharp blade remained. "What's wrong with you?"

Her haunted eyes looked straight into Masoto's panicked ones. "She must die." Without hesitation, she raised the knife for the killing blow and struck wildly into an empty mat. The boy's scream sliced through the air even as shock registered the fact no one was being murdered by his grandmother.

Sakura stood at the far end of the tent, breathing heavily from the close encounter and from her dream-- no, nightmare. Her bloodshot eyes bore holes into the old woman who had just tried to kill her in cold blood. If Nekomata had not sensed the danger she would be just as torn up as the mat was right now.

At that moment a women carrying an infant opened the tent flap, it was the same woman and baby she had saved from the ninjas and fire. Bright daylight flared and burned the demon-girl's already intolerant eyesight, but she could tell it was the same two by the scent. The women's chocolate brown eyes widened at the disturbing scene, and instinctively she held the quiet babe tighter to her ample bosom. "Mother? What in the name of the gods are you doing?" She shook her head, blond curls bouncing. "You should be ashamed. Treating a guest like that, a guest that saved your grandchild no less. You're having one of your episodes aren't you?" She sighed and smiled kindly. "I suppose it can't be helped. Masoto take your Granny Cheko to her home and lay her down for a nap."

"Yes, Mother." The boy barely looked twelve, but he held himself with a reserved courage that allowed him to approach his poor psychotic grandmother with ease and gently disarm her. "Come on Grandmother, let's get you to bed." They left, the elder hobbling and leaning on her grandchild for support, and he in turn supporting her without complaining. Sakura watched this in amazement, in awe of the unselfish aid of the boy.

"You must be the girl from the other night," The woman broke the silence after an awkward moment, bringing Sakura's attention back to her. "I'm Amay and this is Kuruto." She shifted the infant into a more comfortable position, giving Sakura a glimpse of the china doll face. Her throat constricted at the sight of such innocence. Where did those tiny humans come from…Never once did her books mention where or how, Sakura found this to be most intriguing.

When it was obvious the strange girl wasn't going to give in turn her own name, Amay continued, "I don't know how I could ever repay what you did for me and my family, but I would like to try. Despite my mother's hostility, you are more than welcome to stay as long as you like. We can provide food, shelter, and clothing."

Another long silent unpleasant moment passed before Sakura remembered she should answer, she still wasn't used to _not_ being rude and actually giving a civil reply. "Umm," Was about all she had. "Umm food sounds good." It sounded fantastic actually, when had she eaten _real_ food? Not the slop Akatsuki fed her, or a bloody corpse, but real food.

Amay's eyes seemed to brighten and she grinned, obviously happy to accommodate the girl's needs. "Of course! And while I'm cooking you can get a hot bath and fresh clothes." Sakura didn't argue the fact she needed some sort of clean up, grimacing down at her torn dirty clothes--torn and dirty even before she _left_ the Akatsuki hideout. She nodded clearly embarrassed, but Amay's smile merely grew. "Come along now, we'll have you looking brand new in no time."

It had taken a lot longer than 'no time' to bring Sakura's hygiene to an acceptable level. Her long salmon-pink hair had been almost beyond repair with its tangles, and Sakura had thought to cut it but Amay insisted fervently that she kept it. She said it was a rare treasure, something about the unique color being a sign from the gods or whatever. Sakura didn't buy it, but she wanted nothing more than to please her generous host, so now after an hour of brushing it was up high in a ponytail that reached the middle of her back. The ruined clothing was replaced with a plain white shirt and a comfortable pair of Hakama, which fit her well and allowed plenty of room for running. Which was what she was going to be doing a lot of very soon. Her belly was full of wild rice and sushi, Amay had made sure to get the very best food the quaint village had to offer. Her kindness and caring nearly brought Sakura to tears, it was the first in her life she could remember somebody being compassionate towards her.

Sakura now sat on a large velvet pillow, sipping green tea. Across from her Amay was bottle-feeding the fussy Kuruto. Outside she could hear the rumbling of wagons, shouts of merchants, and children playing. The smell of lunch still hung heavily in the air, and the fragrance of the baby's milk causing Sakura's sensitive nose to twitch. Amay's house was small but homey and welcoming, only her and her two children lived in it. Their grandmother lived in a cottage on the other side of town; Sakura discovered Grandma Cheiko had lately become delusional and detached from the world around her. And now for the first time a violent episode was triggered when she attempted to slit Sakura's throat.

"Do you know what caused the episodes in the first place?" From a learning standpoint, Sakura was curious to know about the workings of the average human mind, but there was more. She found herself actually caring about Amay, this person who had helped her and shown her mercy.

Amay's lovely smile wilted from her face, as a flower dies when sprayed with poison. Her earthy-colored eyes seemed to mist over and a distant look entered them. Her voice trembled when she spoke, "It was an incident four years ago, it happened in a place far from here. We don't speak of it. Not ever."

Sakura suppressed the nearly overwhelming urge to press her for more answers, she had an uneasy feeling she wouldn't like the response. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to bring up unpleasant memories." Both became silent, the sounds from outside now seemed aggravating to Sakura. She looked down pretending to take an interest in her lukewarm tea, wishing with all her soul that she could take away the flood of pain drowning Amay's eyes.

"My husband, my sister, my brother-in-law, and my niece all died." Her voice choked as she fought to hold back a sob. "Dead, all dead, all dead, all dead." _This _was uncomfortable, the woman was practically breaking into pieces and Sakura had no clue how to help her. "It's why I didn't want you to cut your hair." She hiccupped, "Pink was her hair color too."

Large sea-green eyes widened, "Whose hair? And didn't you say it was a sign from the gods?" She pointed out.

Amay smiled sadly, "It was my niece's, pink as a rose, you look so much like her it's scary." Her voice trailed off before she continued. "To me, you coming here and saving my family, your unusual hair coloring, it is a sign. A sign of starting over with our lives. Even when we left in hopes of forgetting the past, it is still haunting us, especially my mother. She's been having these episodes, going into some kind of psychosis at random. Ranting and raving the monster has returned for us." She shrugged apologetically, "I guess you can see why she attacked you."

Sakura choked on her tea, quickly grabbing a clean napkin to cover her mouth. "Are you alright?" She bobbed her head 'yes' blood warming her cheeks in embarrassment. A monster huh? Well it certainly fit, she supposed. "I didn't mean for that to be offensive." Amay added quickly realizing what she had implied, "It's just, well…"

"No, I understand. She has every right to be afraid of me, you all do." A kind of sorrowful hurt reflected from her lowered eyes, as though she were too ashamed to look up.

Amay immensely regretted not shutting her mouth. "You aren't a monster. Those shinobi who tried to kill little Kuruto were monsters. Without you intervening my baby wouldn't be here right now." Setting down the half-full baby bottle she gently grabbed Sakura's forearm causing her to look straight into her smiling face, now wet with tears. "Thank you, thank you so much for that."

Something about the mother's heartfelt words and grateful expression made a warmth bloom in her chest, somewhat suffocating but not unpleasant. It was something she had never felt before. "It…it was nothing," She replied, shifting on her pillow uncomfortably. Amay went back to feeding the fussy Kuruto, realizing she had embarrassed her guest yet again.

A few minutes of awkward silence passed before Sakura spoke up, "Are all shinobis as cruel as the ones from before?"

Amay, slightly taken aback by the sudden question quickly shrugged it off; her niece's look alike was a curious one. "No," she replied honestly, "My sister and brother-in-law weren't like that. They would never harm anyone unless out of necessity. They were brave and strong, and they loved each other so much. Especially their little Sakura."

Sakura froze every muscle in her body tensing, her expression troubled, "E-excuse me?" She cleared her throat, which seemed to have gotten suddenly very dry. "I'm sorry I must have misheard, they loved who?"

"Sakura, she was my niece." Amay started at the sound of porcelain shattering, her mouth slightly agape at the sight of her guest crushing her teacup, bright crimson oozing out from between the fractured pieces. "Oh dear, your hand."

The pain in Sakura's hand brought her reeling back to reality, her mind feeling just as broken as the teacup. A numbing denial washed over her, it was just a coincidence. Pink hair and the name Sakura go hand-in-hand, and it wasn't so rare for someone to have a strange hair coloring. There were thousands upon thousands of people in the world; somebody else was bound to have similar traits as her. Nevertheless, a tiny voice in the back of her head screamed that the timing was too perfect and the circumstances congruous to her own, how could she possibly deny these things?

There was a commotion outside, for which Sakura was grateful. It distracted her mind from her current circumstances and led her thoughts astray for the moment. She noticed Amay was watching her with bright, frightened eyes, her expression distressful, "I um," Amay cleared her throat when the situation outside-- whatever it was-- grew louder, "I'll clean up this mess and put Kuruto down for a nap, why don't you come in the back and get that hand cleaned up, hmm?" She was almost pleading with Sakura, her trembling hand reaching out to help her up. Sakura recognized why almost instantly.

Shinobi.

There were three outside, two of which were no real threat to her. The third signature at first seemed to be low and rather pathetic, but further inspection proved that assessment wrong, oh so very wrong. The outer chakra was just a façade for the real power pulsing beneath it, layered and hidden from view. Barely harnessed by a string, ready to snap at any second and level the world in chaos. How could any one person have the capacity for such potential destruction was beyond her.

Nekomata growled, something Sakura felt more than heard. It sent shivers down her spine, and goose bumps down her arms and legs_**. **__Kyuubi__**, **_the panther hissed,___I knew I smelled a sniveling fox.___The voice, like the growl, startled her. It was the first time she had heard the demon-cat since her waking up.

"Please, Sakura?" Amay clutched little Kuruto tightly to her bosom, poised to bolt to the back of her house into hiding. Sakura couldn't blame her; Amay's experience with rogue ninjas had been anything but appealing from what Sakura had seen. Why wouldn't she want to run and hide? However, Sakura didn't want to ignore what was going on outside, she wanted to confront it head on. What if a villager needed her help again? What if these shinobi could help her find a way to a hidden village? She needed to leave soon anyway, her conversation with Amay brought up too many questions she had thought she wanted answers to, but now…

Sakura stood, ignoring Amay's extended hand, and walked with a purpose the opposite direction to the front door. "I'm sorry Amay," She smiled apologetically, "Thank you for everything."

* * *

Sakura's sensitive eyes took a moment of adjusting to the outside world. The sun shown in all its glory, not a cloud in the bright blue sky to protect the world from its shining rays. The air was stagnant and hot, making her throat dry and breathing difficult. People were yelling and cursing at one another in the busy street--a surprisingly busy street considering the village's size was rather small.

A large, burly man almost ran right into her, but recognizing Sakura from the other night, he left her a wide berth eyeing her with dread. Sakura hardly noticed instead honing in on the chakra signature's locations, they were making their way down the market street in her direction.

Quickly she crept in between a gaily-colored stall and Amay's home, taking refuge behind some forgotten crates. The merchant and several others watched her with suspicion and fear, they too recognized her from the night she slaughtered the rogue shinobi. Sakura could only hope the trio of ninjas had not also noticed her slip away.

It didn't take long before she saw their loudest member approach the stall owner who had glared at her. He also happened to be the one whom possessed the awe-inspiring chakra, and he was not exactly what Sakura had been expecting.

"Have you seen this guy?" He shoved a photo at the merchant, practically molesting his face. The poor person was clearly confused and attempted to slap the picture away. "Well? Have you?"

"Get that thing out of my face!" The salesman now truly angry made another futile attempt at slapping the photo away. "Go away."

The obtrusive photo stubbornly remained, "Look harder, he was here I just know it."

For the split second the merchant happened to stare, right at the picture a measure of anxiety entered his eyes, "I have never seen him, now get lost brat."

The kid--for he was a kid Sakura realized-- growled and fisted his hand as though he were about to attack. She tensed ready to intervene should things get out of control, but another member of the trio suddenly appeared behind his teammate and placed a calming hand on his shoulder, "Come on Naruto, none of them are talking. We're wasting our time."

An uneasy second passed before Naruto was pacified and shrugged his teammate's hand off him. Sakura also relaxed, but immediately stiffened when she felt a presence behind her. She whirled around, crouching defensively. A tall, masked man with a bolt of silver hair leaned up against the stall. Arms and legs crossed, completely at ease with himself. How had she not felt him before?

"You shouldn't spy on people." He commented, gazing at Sakura with a dubious stare. His covered features leaving his face unreadable.

"It's not spying if somebody is shouting in public." She responded coolly, trying not to panic.

"Well, you see, it just looks funny when somebody is hiding and listening in on a conversation." He pointed out. "It makes them seem like they know something they don't want others to know."

"Hey Kakashi!"

Sakura could feel the demon-cat rumble his displeasure at the approach of the loud-mouthed blonde kid. Nekomata had been oddly quiet since she had woken up. What was going on?

"Kakashi…" He trailed off seeing for the first time his sensei had company. "Oh…" He stopped again seeing his sensei had very _lovely_ company, "Wow…"

Sakura blushed furiously, not used to such attention and honestly not liking it either. It made her feel squeamish and uncomfortable. He just stared with large eyes, bluer than the sky itself. She felt like slapping him, but all he was doing was staring. She almost wished he would attack her to give her an excuse to hit him. Anything was better than his unabashed ogling.

"Stop gawking damn it," His onyx-haired teammate bonked him on the head, Sakura so perturbed with the obnoxious one's enamorment had not even noticed his advance. She felt so off guard and she hated herself for it. If this had been the Akatsuki, she would have been caught easily. She couldn't afford to be so careless.

"I wasn't gawking!" He argued rubbing his head, "Hey wait!"

Sakura was stopped mid escape by the masked man appearing in front of her, the other two standing where she had left them beside the crates. She growled irritably, feeling her anger begin to stir. "What do you want?"

"Have you seen this guy?" Sakura turned to see the one they called Naruto holding up the photograph he had shoved in the merchant's face. Her heart dropped and for a moment she felt sick to her stomach. It was a picture of the three before her, and a fourth she recognized instantly. The boy she had slaughtered the other night was smiling happily back at her frowning face, almost mockingly. His arm slung around the blonde's shoulder in a brotherly manner. Bile rose in her throat.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know him." Kakashi had not missed the way her jade eyes widened or her how her breathing quickened an instant before her poker face slipped back.

"He didn't ask if you knew him, only if you've seen him." This Kakashi person was really working her nerves over time, why did he have to be so damn astute?

Sakura hated being lied to, therefore she hated lying. Even to strangers, it seemed such a cowardly thing to do. Nevertheless, what good would come out of telling them their friend was a bully who participated in trying to burn an infant alive? A friend who died by her hand.

Nothing, that's what good would come out of it, nothing.

"Please, if you've seen him, tell me." Those amazingly blue eyes were staring at her again, with a flame of hope burning brightly. Hope…what a useless emotion. It only deceived people gave them a false sense of security that eventually got them killed. Like his friend.

Still, looking into those azure depths she could not bring herself to put out that flame, it made his eyes so intriguingly beautiful. "I saw him," She began, pausing only for a second to get her story straight in her mind, "A few nights ago; he and a couple of others were looking for trouble. I think they may have found it. I haven't seen them since." Well it was the truth, just not all of the story. It was compromising, but she saw no other way to get out of her current predicament.

Kakashi frowned from beneath his mask; something did not sit quite right with him. There was something wrong with this girl, something carnal writhing beneath the innocent front she presented. Even he felt uneasy being around her and he was the famous Copy-nin, most shinobi were not a threat to him. A chilled feeling running down his spine told him he would be in a hell of a fight should they clash. His students did not seem to sense it but then again they were oblivious to most things, especially Naurto. He was certain, beyond any doubt, she knew something of his student's fate, and whatever may have happened, he had to find out, it was his responsibility to find out. The citizens of Sokumoti refused to talk; they couldn't even look any of them in the eye when confronted. They were afraid, and Kakashi had to wonder if this little girl was not the source of that fear. Looks could be so deceiving. It was just his luck she was the only one who did not seem too scared to talk, but was being aloof with answers.

"Unless you wish to arrest me, I'll be leaving now." Even as she said this, something was telling, no screaming, at her to stop, to not turn away from these fascinating individuals. She couldn't help but smile at the bitter irony, finally finding people who were shinobi, who did not seem to wish her harm, and not being able to ask for their help because she had murdered their friend and teammate. It just wasn't fair.

Sakura attempted to sidestep the strange masked-one, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her. Her first reaction being to rip the hand straight off the arm, it was difficult to control herself and simply stand there. "Wait, where are you going?" It was the Naruto-one, why did he _care_ where she was going? Beside that, where was she going?

_Hell,_ snickered Nekomata, speaking up for the first time in awhile. _But really, you baka, lets not be coy here. You need a place to go, and you want to learn to be a shinobi. This is the perfect opportunity. They don't know what we did to that sniveling waste of life, nor will they ever find out. _

But I know, she argued.

_You also know he deserved his fate, he deserved to die, _she couldn't disagree with his logic, but it seemed so wrong, so deceiving.

And do they deserve to have me, a walking breathing bomb of death, ask for their help and protection? Sakura fought to hold back tears as the gravity of the situation sank in; did anybody deserve to have her ask for their assistance?

_You don't have a choice, _the demon-cat growled losing patience with her stubbornness. Honestly, when would she learn?

"No where." She finally answered turning to face Naruto, feeling suddenly vulnerable and lost. A heavy weight settling on her heart, she couldn't believe she was actually doing this. "I have no where to go. My parents died years ago, and I've been drifting ever since, looking for a place to call home. Nobody wants an orphan with no talents or skills, nobody wants me." More lies, a little truth, she couldn't be more disgusted with herself if she tried. Little did she know though she couldn't have come up with more of a heart sob to win this particular group over.

Then the loudmouth blonde did something that almost cost him his life, something that made Sakura's breath catch and her body freeze, made her want to run away and yet never want to move. For the first time she could remember, somebody embraced her. It was warm and tender, more perfect than she could ever hope and she hated it. It was a reminder of everything she didn't deserve, everything a monster was not worthy of. Sakura pulled away as soon as she could feel her nerves again, visibly shaken.

Naruto looked sheepish, rubbing the back of his yellow hair, sensing her discomfort. "Sorry, it's just…" A long pause had her waiting, still breathless. "Why don't you come with us?"

"Me go with you?" The heavy weight from before only seemed to grow heavier, suffocating.

"Yeah! You could help us find Ichiro, and once we find him you could come back to Konoha with us!" His enthusiasm left her blank minded and speechless.

The dark-haired shinobi leaning against the crates finally broke the silence, "Why not? You have no where else to go and we have no other leads on our teammate's whereabouts."

"It would be good to have a fourth come, I mean, if you can keep up that is." Kakashi had no doubt she could keep up and more, but he wanted all present to know he approved of her joining them. Besides torture, he could think of no other way of gathering information than having her along. Nobody could hide lies from him for long, and he would find what she was hiding from him. He had to, Ichiro was his responsibility and he had failed him, now he had to find him. He wouldn't lose another teammate, his sanity counted on it.

Sakura hardly believed her ears; could it be as easy as this? Were they really so accepting? Or was it another trick? It was what she wanted, right? It wasn't as if she had much of a choice; go with them or face another few weeks, possibly months, alone and hunted by the Akatsuki. "Okay, I'll go, but only on the condition of no more hugging."

Naruto blushed, but laughed it off. Sakura smirked, the sound of his laughter pleasing to her. He suddenly stuck out his hand straight towards her. Confused Sakura did the only thing she could think of and gingerly grabbed it with her bandaged hand. "I'm Naruto!"

"Sakura," She replied, and this is Nekomata, the two-tailed Bijuu, favored of the Death God, Demon of the Undead, he will also be joining us.


	4. Clash of Demons

**Chapter Title: Clash of Demons**

**Chapter Rating: PG-15**

**A/N: Sorry for updating seven months later, been busy lately. Thanks so much to those who reviewed. I really like reading them ****J. So after this update I will work on the third chapter of Full Circle, and add another story I've been working on. I actually have five or six stories I'd like to publish eventually, but one thing at a time, ne? Thanks again, I hope everyone likes it. The next chapter will be really intense, so forgive me if you think this chapter is slow. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the lyrics to ****Truth**** by "Seether".**

_**If I gave you the truth would it keep you alive,**_

_**Though I'm closer to wrong I'm no further from right,**_

_**And now I'm convinced on the inside**_

_**There's something wrong with me**_

**Twelve days had passed since her joining Team Kakashi, and every step of the way Sakura kept a wary eye out for the Akatsuki. Every crunch of a twig, foreign scent, and jerk movement sent her flying for cover. This made her look so much more suspicious, but she guessed it was better than being taken unaware by her old captors. Nekomata called her a witless fool, and said it made her seem untrustworthy, but she didn't care. She would never go back to that cage, she'd rather die. **

**Her traveling companions were amusing, and as much as she hated to admit it she had grown rather attached to them. Particularly Naruto, albeit a bit annoying at times, he knew how to keep a conversation interesting. He had more stamina and energy than she would have imagined any one person possessing. He was kind and happy, and though both his teammates demeaned his wit in one way or another, Sakura could tell he was smarter than what he put out there. At least he wasn't dumb enough to try and hug her again. **

**The one true problem she had with him was Nekomata despised him for some unknown reason. The bijuu would spit and hiss hatefully anytime he would get too close. Nekomata's fury would light a fire of loathing within she couldn't describe or explain, it was actually painful. Sakura felt terrible, for Naruto was the only one she felt truly welcomed by, and now she couldn't stand to be near him for too long. **

**The other two were still complete enigmas to her. Kakashi was all smoke and mirrors, you could never really tell what was going on in his head. He would say one thing but really mean another, his only motive was to throw you completely off. Anytime he spoke she felt as if she were answering trick questions, or leading him to answers she couldn't afford him to find. He was too cunning to have a real conversation with, so she resigned herself to nodding and shaking her head, or shrugging her shoulders in feigned ignorance.**

**Sasuke was a dark room, and about as emotionless as they came. Completely apathetic, even callous she would dare say, and she was completely fine with that. It meant he never really spoke to her, and that meant she didn't have to come up with more lies or excuses. The only one to pull any kind of reaction out of him was Naruto, and even that was kept to a minimal insult, maybe a sour face. So Sasuke wasn't a complete stone wall, just mostly she supposed.**

**Despite her constant guarded state the days passed uneventfully. Kakashi led them southeast towards the Wave Country, where he was convinced he would at least find Koji, if not Ichiro and his brother. From what Naruto had told her Koji was a missing-nin from the Village Hidden in the Mist, but he still held a multitude of connections there. **

**It was agonizing watching them try so hard to find someone already gone, someone murdered by her own hand. She didn't feel guilt, or regret, just emptiness. This void begging her to fill it by telling them the truth, to stop them from wasting their time, but then they would hate her. They would never understand why she did what she did, they probably wouldn't try to. They'd only see the murderer of their beloved teammate, and it would break her heart if they hated her, especially Naruto. So she would keep it her secret as long as she could, as long as she lived if it could be helped. **

**A mist had begun to creep around them and with each new leap from branch to branch it grew heavier and thicker. The vapor stuck uncomfortably to their clothing, making breathing difficult and seeing nearly impossible, even her night vision wasn't helping much. For Sakura it was literally a leap of faith each time her foot left a branch, she followed Naruto closely. Following him was easier due to his bright clothing style, an orange beacon against the grey smog. The other two were practically invisible, which she supposed was sensible considering they were ninjas and were suppose to be stealthy. It made Naruto look a little ridicules now that she thought about it…okay **_**really **_**ridicules, but she was glad for it at the moment.**

**The trees, so claustrophobically close when they began their trek into the woods were now dispersing. Kakashi eventually dropped onto a traveled road, "We'll walk from here." Was all he said, and for the first time Sakura realized everything had gone eerily silent. Everything except Naruto's noisy plopping footsteps through the mud and his constant whistling, so much for stealthy ninja.**

**Sakura paused.**

_**Listen, can you hear their breathing? **_**She could, if she concentrated, it was labored, excited. She could smell them, they were so close. Hiding in the undergrowth to her right, poised and waiting for a kill. Nekomata purred, not the kind of purring a normal housecat makes, but a kind of morbid sound that made her queasy. **_**I smell their blood, their life force calls to me.**_

**Sakura took a shaky breath to control herself, she couldn't go psycho-demon girl with the Leaf Shinobi nearby. It just wouldn't look good to go on a murdering rampage, they already distrusted her. They'd probably try to kill her if they saw her **_**other**_** side.**

**Instinct had her leaping backwards into a pine tree, hidden amongst its needles. Sakura felt more than saw the duo that sprang from the mist's edge. They were weaker than she had originally suspected. Despite their frightening and dramatic appearance she wasn't worried for anyone, except maybe Naruto. So when they picked their first target to be Kakashi she nearly laughed, they'd soon regret that decision. She had come to respect the captain of their little team, he was quick thinking and powerful. Much more powerful than the fools currently encircling him with their spiked chains linked to a pair of gauntlets, attempting to create a trap. She sat back on her haunches ready to enjoy a show of pure kick ass proportions.**

**However something unexpected happened, her masked mentor didn't move out of the deadly trap, didn't move at all. In fact he just stood there, a stupefied distressed expression in his eyes. He was going to move, he had to, she couldn't get to him in time if he didn't. The spiked chain tightened, impaling and sticking Kakashi, and it tightened and continued to tighten until the pressure sliced him to pieces. All the little pieces fell with stomach churning fleshy plops.**

**Kakashi…No! Why hadn't he moved? Had she overestimated him? She didn't have time to analyze what exactly had happened. One of the assassins appeared right behind Naruto, while the other went straight for Sasuke. Not that either made it far enough to do any real damage. Sakura was gone before the first piece of Kakashi had hit the muddy ground. **

**Tackling the first assassin away from Naruto she sent him flying straight into a large pine tree. She ripped his spiked chain from the gauntlet-ignoring the spurs shredding her skin-and cracked it violently towards his accomplice. The chain wrapped around his neck, and before he could react Sakura pulled with all her strength. Warm crimson liquid rained down as the assassin's head was ripped off. It rolled a few feet from Naruto who stared in mute shock.**

**The devil-cat was laughing. Sakura could feel her chakra darkening with his demonic power, her mind was going numb and losing all inhibition of control. Why hadn't Kakashi moved? Her breath was ragged with grief and rage. She should have helped him, should have killed the enemy shinobi when she had the chance. Now he was gone, and it was her fault.**

"**S-s-sakura," She turned to see everyone watching her in awe and horror, her now violet eyes stared back blankly. Raw seething hate and anger quickly dissipated replaced by disdain and revulsion for herself. What did they see when they saw her? A monster? A killer? What was happening to her? **

"**Sakura!"**

**It was too late, and she didn't even care. The assassin was already there behind her, and she **_**would**_** do nothing to stop him. Kunai raised for the kill, aimed straight for the base of her skull, and all she did was hope she'd never see Naruto look at her that way again. Let it be quick. Nothing came though, no pain, no bleeding, no sweet darkness to take her away. A breeze, an ever-so-subtle shift of the wind, and the smell of a…dog.**

"**Kakashi." **

"**Sakura, never turn your back on an enemy." He wasn't dead, he was alive. He was alive! Tears of relief and disbelief sprung and spilt, running freely leaving salty stains on her face. She felt like slapping him. "Sorry I'm late." He stood there, so coolly with the shinobi tucked unconscious under one arm, acting for all the world like she hadn't just ripped off somebody's head. **

"**You're alive," Was all she could think of to say, her mind still refusing to believe the proof before her. "You moved."**

**His visible eye crinkled, and despite not being able to see two-thirds of his face she somehow knew he was smiling at her. "Of course I moved." He pointed with his free arm to the spot she thought she saw him die. "Replacement jutsu," Was his explanation. **

**Sakura nearly fell to her knees when she saw scraps of the wooden log clever Kakashi had **

**used, but she ignored the intense emotions threatening to overwhelm her. Pure stubbornness kept her on her feet. "Here let me see that," He dropped the assassin carelessly, kneeling down to get a closer look at her bloodied hand. The chain was stuck, the spikes digging painfully into her skin. Carefully he pulled them out watching in amazement as each wound healed itself right before his eyes. Her skin was alarmingly cold, even through his leather gloves the supernatural chill bit at him. "There all better."**

**Sakura jerked her hand away hiding the healed cuts, feeling self-conscious. Maybe he hadn't noticed. Mentally she rolled her eyes, of course he had noticed, Naruto would have noticed. The lacerations were mending before he had even grabbed her hand. She thanked him lowering her eyes so he wouldn't see the darkness clouding them.**

"**Of course," He ruffled her pink hair in what she would almost call a loving gesture, except he was tense when he did it, as though he was testing her reaction to being touched. Maybe he was hoping she would attack him so he could kill her. Sakura swallowed her hurt, stuffing down the feelings of betrayal. Could she blame him, really? She'd brutally ripped a person apart without even blinking, did he think she wouldn't hesitate to do the same to him or his students? **

'**I wouldn't, would I?'**

**Kakashi turned away from her, satisfied she was in control again. He had known she was strong, he had suspected she was savage in some ways, perhaps even bloodthirsty, but that had been…inhuman. She had lost all inhibition at the drop of a kunai. He had never seen somebody go from being sweet and quiet to cruel and ruthless in a matter of seconds. The feeling of that wicked chakra swelling in potency was tangible, he could have reached out and felt its demonic essence.**

**What was she? He had a grim suspicion, but he needed to confirm it with the Hokage. For now though he had to keep her under control, he had to keep her convinced she was a part of this team, just until they reached Konoha, then he could hand her over to the authorities and not worry about it anymore. **

**Kakashi turned his attention to the remaining shinobi who was beginning to stir. Taking the bloodied chain and dragging him to a nearby tree he wrapped it tightly around the unconscious ninja, leaving little room for breathing without cutting himself. Kakashi slapped him hard inciting a groan, he hit him again and this time an eye opened, then another. "Wakey, wakey."**

**His black eyes opened wider when Kakashi spoke, studying each of his captor's faces until they settled on Sakura. A flicker of recognition before his face went blank, almost too subtle to see, but Sakura noticed as did Kakashi. "Who are you?" To her teammate's surprise it wasn't their sensei who asked, but Sakura.**

"**Where is Gozu? Let me see my brother." Something heavy and sticky was dropped into the captive's open lap. His brother's face stared lifelessly back up at him, frozen forever in a shocked expression, openmouthed and wide-eyed. "Gozu…You bitch! You'll pay for this!"**

**Sakura smiled sadistically, kneeling beside him. Kakashi moved accommodatingly letting her take center stage, curious to see what she would do next. "Yes, yes tell me more please. Nothing I haven't heard before." She leaned in closer, pouring her frozen aura over him like ice water. "Now tell me where you remember me from, I saw the way you looked at me. You'll have to forgive me, my memory isn't quite so sharp."**

**He laughed a little, a bitter mocking sound that irritated her. "You wouldn't remember me, not after what **_**he**_** did to you. No, you wouldn't remember much at all would you?"**

**Sakura snarled, reacting before she even knew what she was doing. A clawed hand grabbing his throat and choking the life out of him. She slammed his head hard leaving an indention on the tree. "What was that? You'll have to be a little more specific than just 'he'. A name would help your situation a lot."**

**Naruto moved to stop her, but Kakashi held out an arm shaking his head. They needed to know what or who was after Sakura if they were going to protect themselves, it might give them more insight into just who this girl was. That is if she managed to control herself long enough to not kill him…or them.**

**Sakura eased her choke hold just enough to let him breath with effort. "Tell me, now." She growled, the demon-cat hissed audibly just for effect. **

**The shinobi's black eyes bulged a bit from fear or lack of oxygen, she couldn't tell which but it appeared her interrogation tactics were working. He attempted to mouth a word and Sakura relented a little more on her vice grip. "Orochimaru," His voice was just a hoarse whisper but she heard the name perfectly as though he had screamed it in her ears.**

**She froze, Kakshi barely managed to strip her hand free from the dying assassin. He slumped over coughing blood, mumbling some incoherent things but went ignored. "Sakura?" **

**She made no response other than clenching and unclenching her fists. **_**Orochimaru.**_** Him, the worst of the Akatsuki, the one that had caused her the most pain and suffering. He'd performed so many experiments on her, she'd lost track of how many times he'd cut her open. She hated him most of all, so she'd make him suffer most of all. The unspeakable horrors he'd made her go through, she shuddered with burning anger. He was more of a monster than she was, than any of the Akatsuki were. **

"**Sakura." Kakashi gently shook her, "We need to go, **_**now**_**." She nodded in agreement. "We are abandoning this mission," He announced once they were both standing and facing their teammates.**

"**What?" Everybody stared surprised, even Sasuke looked mildly shocked. "What about Ichiro? We can't just leave him! He's our teammate!" **

"**Naruto, do not question me. We are going home to Konoha. Ichiro chose to disobey orders, I am not putting everyone at risk because of his defiance. This mission is too dangerous for me to drag all of you along." His voice had a final tone to it that no one would dare argue with, not even Naruto who was sporting a hurt look.**

**The masked sensei took off into the forest without a glance at any of them obviously expecting obedient students to thus follow accordingly. "This is stupid." Naruto announced before launching himself onto a tree branch.**

**Not if you knew who is chasing us, Sakura thought grimly. She knew why Kakashi was in such a hurry to leave for the protection of the Leaf Village, Orochimaru was sending assassins after them if not tracking them himself. But, she wondered, why now? Had he heard of her grand escape and wanted her for himself? She hadn't seen him in at least a year, and she remembered very little. Most of it she'd blacked out from the pain or terror. What did he want from her? Whatever it was, he wasn't getting it. Not ever.**

**They didn't stop except to eat and sleep for a few hours at a time. A day passed before Sakura noticed a change in the weather, the humidity dropped and the ever-present mist faded a little more with each mile. On the third day the sun shone with all her shining radiance lifting the team's downtrodden moods. Sakura though remained distressed and worried, she was constantly on guard even when Kakashi told them to rest she stayed awake listening and searching with her enhanced senses. Not that she could sleep anyway.**

**They were all still uncomfortable around her, she could see the wariness in their eyes and how they stared when they thought she wasn't looking. Probably expecting her to snap and attack them at any moment. Sakura took it all in stride as best she could, hopefully, maybe, someday they would learn to trust her; first she had to learn to trust herself.**

**Kakashi stopped them for one last break before they reached Konoha. They divided the last of their rations, mostly dried meat and fruit, and ate quietly. "We'll reach home by tomorrow afternoon if we keep a good pace. I want everyone to rest for the night, it's going to be a long day tomorrow." The masked teacher gave a meaningful look to Sakura before leaving the trio to backtrack and make sure they hadn't been followed. **

**Once done with her meal Sakura rolled out the grey wool blanket Kakashi had insisted she take and lay down. Though her tired jade eyes closed her mind raced with nervous excitement and fear. The famous Hidden Leaf Village awaited their arrival tomorrow, she'd read its history, knew its origins, Kages, downfalls, and success's. Of course she had read of all the other villages, but for some reason Konohagakure had fascinated her the most. In her opinion it had the most tragic past of all the villages, and yet it remained one of the strongest Hidden Villages. **

**Kakashi had referred to it as **_**home**_**, home was not a term Sakura was familiar with. What was a home? Was it merely the place where you slept and ate? The term seemed much more personal than that, there was a certain ring to it that made her feel almost warm inside. A small ray of heat from a dying sun desperately trying to push its way from behind heavy rain clouds. Had she known what a home was before she lost her memory? **

**Grey light had just begun to illuminate the forest when a whisper came from behind her. She sat very still waiting for him to finish speaking, "Sakura, we need to talk." Just loud enough for her to hear. She lay there for several more moments after he left to be sure neither Naruto or Sasuke would stir, then with silent grace left her place and followed after her new sensei. **

**He hadn't gone very far, just enough distance to be out of ear shot should the other two wake. She left enough distance between them to be sure he was comfortable, not that it would seem he cared. He seemed very relaxed leaning against a great oak, hands in his pockets with one leg crossed. Silvery locks sparkling in the morning light, his one visible eye closed. Sakura's presence went ignored for several minutes before he sighed and looked straight into her drained eyes. A whirl emotions stormed through her in that second, she wondered if the Kage had denied her entrance to Konoha, or maybe Kakashi had changed his mind about letting her become a part of his little team. Salty tears blurred her vision, but she held the dam up, looking down away from him to hide her hurt and disappointment. **

**What would she do now?**

"**As I'm sure you've guessed I've informed the Hokage of our arrival today," Here it comes… "I notified him of your presence in our group. I asked for special permission to allow you to come with us to Konoha, and last night I received his response." He paused, and some Starlings began to sing in his place. Sakura felt the flood rapidly building, inwardly she begged for him to get on with it. "He gave the go ahead for you to have temporary residence."**

**Her breath caught in her throat as she finally looked up through a watery visage in mute shock. A stiff smile broke out awkwardly across her pale face. The blood stopped pounding in her head and she felt faint for several seconds. "I can go?" Her voice croaked from a suddenly dry throat.**

**Though his face was covered Sakura could see Kakashi's grin. "Yes, you can go. However there are rules-" **

"**Of course," She interjected, blushing at her interruption. "Sorry…"**

**His look sobered, and his eyes grew serious. "Listen Sakura, this is no joke. If you break the rules you will be terminated." **

**She could feel Nekomata's mocking laughter tremble through her. **_**How dare he think I could actually be destroyed by mere mortals, perhaps we should show him the power of the Death God's favored. **_**It took a minute to relax her tensed muscles and let the deadly freeze of his chakra wash over her, he'd been so shy as of late she had begun to get used to his silence. **

'**I can not kill him, I do not think I could even if you told me to do so.' She felt his cold anger blow through her like a wild blizzard, but it didn't stop her resolve. 'I can't explain why, but I just can't.' **

**The great demon cat snorted, clearly not amused at this declaration. **_**Little fool, you don't even realize what they have done to you. You have developed feelings for these weaklings, you are becoming soft and vulnerable. Disgusting.**_

**Somebody was saying her name, slowly she pulled out of her reverie, still stunned by the suddenness of her demon's appearance and disappearance. "Sakura?" **

"**What?" **

**Her teacher sighed, "You need to listen to me, it is very important."**

**Sakura nodded trying her best to look attentive, "I'm sorry, I'm listening now." **

"**Good, now some things are going to happen when we arrive in Konoha, some things that may seem scary at first." Her expression went from intent to confused to leery, what exactly did he mean? "You must at all times remain calm, you can not afford to lose control, if you do there will be nothing I can do for you." **

**Her lime-colored eyes narrowed suspiciously, "What do you mean by 'scary' things?" He spoke as though he were dealing with a child, and even though she was only thirteen she was matured past that. She had done and experienced things most adults would never encounter in their long years, how could she or anyone else for that matter think of her as a child?**

"**Listen before you decide you will not trust me. Everybody who wishes to become a citizen of Konoha must go through a certain process, no exceptions. The village can not afford to make mistakes, many lives are in the balance." Sakura nodded slowly, weary but accepting. "It is simply a series of interrogations to make sure you can be trusted."**

"**And if I am determined not trustworthy…"**

**Kakashi's face grew solemn, "You must pass."**

**So it was a test of sorts. A test of trust? Or perhaps a test of how good of a liar she had become in the past few weeks. Lies, lies, and more lies, did it ever end? Once you started building the sticky web of deceit you had to continue to build and fix any damages along the way. **

"**I will pass, you have my word." For whatever her word was worth anyway. **

**He nodded his approval, "Good, let's head back we need to start moving if we hope to be there by noon." He disappeared the only trace of him was the slight rustle of the spring grass. By noon they would be in Konoha, by the end of today she would know whether or not she could stay. **

'**I said I would pass, but what if I can not? What will happen then?'**

**Sakura could feel Nekomata's feral grin as it spread across his dark face, her mind's eye pictured the glinting of those lethal fangs as they dripped acid in the coolness of his lair within her. **

_**Then we shall annihilate them.**_


	5. Pain Test

Chapter Title: Pain Test

Chapter Rating: M

A/N: Been working on many stories, but I have not given up on any of the ones I have published. Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the lyrics to "Somebody Help Me"by _Full Blown Rose_

_I've seen the face of my affliction _

_Of my reality, I'm being tortured _

_By the future of things that are yet to be _

_I'm being haunted by a vision_

She couldn't believe it, there it was before her. Everything she had dared to hope, and dream; all the pain and loneliness she had suffered for this. For this city and all it symbolized; the freedom, the beginning of a new life, and perhaps friends she thought glancing sidelong to the blue-eyed boy running beside her. Her eyes blurred as she felt years of emotional burden float away, the scars they left seemed to heal just a little from the sight of the magnificent towers peeking from above the treetops. With each leap flying above all obstructions she saw the heads of past Hokages carved into the cliffs overseeing the village, the view took her breath away.

They were minutes from their destination, her heart fluttered nervously, Kakashi's warnings from earlier that morning playing back again and again to her. It didn't help that he had a worried edge to his expression whenever he looked at her. He obviously was expecting the worst. Naruto seemed to be blissfully unaware of the tension hanging thickly around their little group, he smiled and went on and on about how amazing Konoha was. He even said he was excited to have her come home with them, which nearly made Sakura tear up. Sasuke didn't say anything, of course, but his eyes seemed to darken and he became more withdrawn the closer they came to the Hidden Leaf Village.

Five guards were awaiting their arrival, or more specifically Sakura's arrival. All of them tall and serious, and wearing the standard masked uniform for Konoha ANBU. Sakura hid behind Kakashi as they approached the huge gates to the city, she tried not to let panic overwhelm her, but it was difficult with so many things happening at once. A deep slow breath helped steady her when they stopped, she couldn't help but stare at Naruto's confused face. "What's going on, Kakashi?"

Their mentor didn't say anything, merely shook his head in answer.

"Welcome back Kakashi." What must have been the ANBU team leader bowed before continuing. "I trust all went well on your mission?"

"Well enough," He responded stiffly.

"I see," Sakura couldn't see their faces from behind Kakashi, but there was a familiar ring to the leader's voice. Something she couldn't identify, but the sound made her nauseous. "Where is your new recruit? We have orders to escort her back to headquarters, as I'm sure you are already aware."

Sakura stiffened, her teeth grinding together. She knew that voice, that cocky inflection, she'd recognize it anywhere. She had to fight her anger down to a low broil. "Sakura." It was Kakashi staring at her concernedly, "It's time, just remember what I told you." For a moment he watched her, the battle between purple and green in her eyes. "Sakura, you can't screw this up." He whispered urgently.

She nodded, not wanting to open her mouth to respond, afraid her new sensei would see her lengthening teeth. Come on Sakura, just hold it in.

_Yes, come on Sakura, hold it all in and let it go. Never mind what he did to you, it doesn't matter, you can forgive and forget right? _The demon laughed mockingly as memories flashed in her mind's eye.

Stop, I know what you're doing. I won't give in to you, just stop. Her breath became ragged as she fought to control the animalistic urges, she wanted nothing more than to rip the little bastard to shreds, she wanted to hear him scream like he had made her scream, but she couldn't. She had to keep herself together or she would never be able to stay here. She would never see her dreams of revenge come to fruition.

"Sakura? Are you ready?"

No… "Yes." The masked sensei moved aside and Sakura inhaled sharply. It _was_ him, the ANBU mask of a hawk hid his face, but she knew, damn it there was mistake. The glare of his glasses blinded her for a moment, those glasses; one of the things she remembered most was him messing with those glasses constantly. They did nothing to hide the evil that shined brightly beneath. There was no doubt, she could practically feel the same malevolent aura rolling off of him. Did they not sense it? Was she the only one who knew?

Her dark ally shifted impatiently in the back of her mind, he wanted him as badly as she did. _The pain you feel, the anger, the hate, the madness I feel it, all of it. I was there, I have always been there, trapped in this cage. Do not forget, I will stop at nothing for my revenge, none of them will escape my coming wraith. They will rot in the bowels of my Master's domain. _To hear him admit this was chilling, he had been through everything she had, he knew all of her darkest thoughts, her forbidden memories. She had had a friend all this time, a friend of sorts anyway. Somebody who understood, if only a little, what she had been through. A kindred spirit.

He grabbed her wrists roughly pulling them behind her, using some sort of chakra-blocking handcuffs to bind them. Her strength left her immediately, her knees wobbled from her own weight, she had to concentrate just to stand. Even Nekomata's following growl dimmed and sort of vanished. "Level 10 handcuffs? Hardly necessary for a little girl do you think, Kabuto?" Kakashi's expression hardened and his eye glared at the masked ANBU.

She couldn't see it but Sakura was sure Kabuto was wearing his usual mocking grin, the same grin he had used on her when she'd begged him to stop. "Kakashi, Konoha's safety is my number one priority. There isn't a measure I would not take to ensure nothing goes wrong."

"Of course," Was all he said, Sakura shot him a pleading look, but his attention was focused solely on Kabuto. She turned her wide, panicked eyes to Naruto and Sasuke; one remaining stone-faced, the other watching concernedly.

Kabuto picked her up like a rag doll throwing her limp form over his shoulder, she couldn't even struggle enough to pick her head up to mouth some form of warning. They probably wouldn't have noticed anyway, what did they care if something happened to her? She realized this with trepidation, it was probably a relief to be rid of her. Hell who wouldn't be relieved to be rid of a monster? The only leverage she had was Kakashi thought she knew something of his student's disappearance. Which she did of course, but to him she had vehemently denied it. Something terrible was going to happen to her, and nobody would care or notice if she were to disappear.

Now she didn't have her inner demon to confide with, she really was completely alone. She felt herself leave the ground, flying upwards at speeds she couldn't at the moment comprehend. It was a nauseating ride, and she was glad for once they hadn't much to eat earlier that day. Looking down she could see blurred colors and shapes passing at frightening rates below her. Her thoughts seemed sluggish as though the bracelets were not only draining physically, but mentally as well. It couldn't take away will power though, however even that seemed to be waning, whether from the cuffs or her own self pity she couldn't tell.

They stopped sooner than she had expected, all of her captors eerily silent. She managed to move her head to glance sidelong at one of the quiet figures, there was something not quite right with this one, the edges were blurred as though somebody hadn't colored within the lines. The ninja's form was fuzzy all around, perhaps her eyes were going bad without the use of chakra. This proved to be wrong when Kabuto began to move again and the shinobi disappeared in a puff of smoke, all three of them were gone just as suddenly as they had come. Shadow clones…

It was just Kabuto and herself.

He entered a dark corridor that seemed to be leading below ground, the light of day slowly evaporated leaving them in complete darkness. Her night vision was gone; she wasn't used to everything being so dark. Sakura shut her eyes pretending she was still outside in the light, in safety; far away from this madman, who was currently ruining her fantasy with his incessant humming. She wished he would be quiet and allow her some form of concentration to think of a way out of her predicament.

Some time later they entered a room that was lit partially with torches and some scattered candles. Kabuto slid her off his shoulder, sitting her in a wooden chair that was centered in the room, he didn't even bother to tie her to the chair. Her head lolled side-to-side, and she no longer could focus her gaze long enough to have a look around. The cuffs were draining her life force, she could feel them soaking her strength like greedy little sponges. There was no way out of this except death, and she really had been planning to wait on that part of her life. It was a shame, she had come so far and tried so hard and none of it was going to amount to anything other than a dried husk. She would have sighed depressingly if it had not taken so much energy.

"Sakura, Sakura, Sakura." He began with a hint of wistfulness in his voice, "You really have become quite a young lady, so…grown up. Who would have guessed you'd survive this long?"

What did he want anyway, it was a question she had not thought of till now and it suddenly seemed very important to know. Was he still working for Orochimaru? It made sense since the assassins had failed that he would send his pet, Kabuto. Mentally she cringed when she heard the sound of scraping metal, not the metal she was comfortable with used for kunai or throwing stars, but surgical steel that made her stomach churn. "I always wanted to know what was inside you," His voice, peaked with desire, seemed distant now as though he were remembering those times so long ago when she had been at his mercy. "But Orochimaru wouldn't let me have my fun."

She slumped down further into the chair, desperately attempting to slide off, maybe she could crawl away unnoticed while he talked to himself. "Can you imagine a demon inside of you? The size and power of that thing stuck inside such a tiny body?" Gravity alone allowed her to fall to the floor on her back, there was not enough strength left to roll onto her stomach. "What will happen when I slice you open? Will it be staring back at me? Can I capture it for myself maybe?"

He turned suddenly, not even caring she was not where he had left her, he picked her up smoothly transferring her to his table, which was now lined with his shiny toys, some of which she had never seen before. There was a click and a light, bright as a star, blinded her from above; this could not be happening again. She had thought this nightmarish part of her existence to be over, that old terror freezing any brain power she had left. It had been Itachi, of all people, who stopped this madness before, now there was nobody to save her, not even Nekomata. She could still remember how Itachi's eyes had burned in the darkness, as her own had pleaded with him to stop the next experiment. He had too, and she never again heard or saw Kabuto or Orochimaru after that. It had been the most he'd ever done for her, most likely the kindest thing he'd ever done for anyone.

This time was different though, Kabuto had never tried to dissect her. There had only been painful jutsus and injections before, hours of straining to breathe and keep her head above the rising tide of panic. This was much more horrifying than the other experiments had been. Her fear made her whole body extra sensitive, her skin goose bumped as his fingers ghosted a long her sides with the scalpel. The thought of him exploring her flesh with his scalpels and trinkets made her want to escape into some sort of fantasy world; that world eluded her she could only think of being sliced open slowly, painfully.

He teased her for some time, cutting lightly at the fabric of her shirt and pants. Tracing circles with that cold surgical steel on her neck and face. Her heart trembled and her thoughts seemed to rush faster as her imagination took off. Tears spilled down the side of her temples as she felt him cut open her shirt exposing her to him, that ripping sound making her more frantic. "What fun," He breathed, she felt the steel trace with agonizing slowness along the bottom of her ribcage. Warm liquid oozed out, and the reflection in his glasses showed an ugly wound much to her horror.

She wanted badly to scream, she wanted to have her speed and strength back, more than anything she wanted to tear Kabuto limb from limb. Instead she could feel her eyelids begin to droop with fatigue, until they shut. This was it, she thought hopelessly, she was going to die by this madman's hand. Not only die, but die slowly, painfully, pitifully, anatomized with excruciating precision.

Was there ever an end to her suffering? She was about to find out when suddenly Kabuto gave a shout. The clang of the scalpel hitting the floor startled her enough to half-open one eye to the sight of Kabuto clutching a bleeding hand. He looked angry and shocked at being interrupted, but then he stood calmly propping his glasses back into place with his clean hand. "I see you found me," Sakura's eye rolled listlessly to the side searching the darkness. "Such a shame too, I was just getting to the good part."

"Kabuto," She recognized the voice as Kakashi, never had she been so glad to hear another person. "We have long known of your allegiance to Orochimaru, surrender now or die." He was deadly serious, she had not heard him talk this way before. A dead inflection, with no room for his usual amused silliness.

"You only leave me with two options?" He snickered as though the very thought was ridicules. "How can that be when I see a third?" There was a flash of light so intense it left Sakura blinded for several minutes. There was confusion, some shouts, she could hear Kakashi close to her though, whispering for her to stay strong as he slid those awful cuffs off.

Instantly she felt a surge of energy rush through her, so cold it was physically painful. She arched her back attempting to slow the flow of chakra that had been dammed and building up. For a moment she lay there screaming, she didn't think the torment would end. But then she heard _him._ Hissing, so very angry, on the verge of losing all mental control she nearly relinquished the reigns to his demand for blood. He roared, the sound reverberating the inside of her head jarring all coherent thoughts.

_He is mine, give him to me, his soul will quench my thirst. _

Sakura didn't realize she had said those things out loud. Kakashi took an alarmed step back, it hadn't sounded like Sakura, it hadn't sounded like anything, or anyone he had ever heard before. It wasn't really Sakura anymore, _it_ had taken over completely. Volatile feline eyes stared back unblinking. There was no longer any doubt in Kakashi's mind he now stood before a demon, a slave to the death God. Purple chakra visibly pulsed around her straining form, exterminating the lights. In the pitch black the tornado of power glowed eerily. Kakashi braced himself against a wall, the wind pushing and pulling everyone in the room.

_He thinks he will escape me? _The voice of Sakura and the hell cat melded together now, like angels and demons singing in harmony. She, it, bellowed the force shaking the walls; Kakashi feared the tunnels would collapse on them.

Then she was gone. He had not even been able to detect her movement. For a moment his team of elite ANBU shinobi gathered themselves, the only sound was of them breathing heavily. Nobody spoke a word into the shocked silence. Kakashi forced himself to stand, staggering to the exit. He couldn't let Sakura go after Kabuto alone, who knew what he had planned; but then he himself had no idea how he would stop her once he caught up.

They could easily sense him, smell him, even taste him in the wind. For them there was no other but him to hunt. His small advantage in time would be nothing to their superior speed and tracking, it would be a matter of minutes if not seconds to find him desperately running away. _Here rabbit, rabbit, don't be afraid._ They knew he knew they were coming, and ready or not they were coming at a terrifying velocity.

Fumes of poisonous smoke slowed her to a stop on a sturdy branch, this was where he wanted to take a stand. If he thought she could not use her senses in this gas cloud, he was wrong. Her throat did burn, and her bright eyes watered, but Nekomata was not limited to just physical sensations. She could feel the hairs on her body rise in anticipation of Kabuto's first attack.

He was…behind her.

She whirled deflecting a scalpel aimed for her skull, his other hand jabbed at her shoulder in an attempt to break it with chakra-infused fingers. However she was fast, faster than he had assumed. Jerking the scalpel from one hand she grabbed the extended fingers of his other hand stabbing his own weapon through the palm.

He tried to pull away but she refused to lose him, instead twisting violently snapping his right forearm in half. He gritted his teeth refusing to yell, and attempted to slice at her gut with another chakra scalpel. She was already behind him grabbing a handful of his silver hair, slamming his head into the trunk of the tree. He disappeared and she was left clutching a log, replacement jutsu. She roared, shattering the wood against the tree with brute force.

Her lungs ached from breathing the noxious vapors which seemed to be growing denser by the second. She straightened, closing her eyes since they were of no use, listening and feeling for him to make a mistake. A few branches below her, he was there, sitting, breathing heavily, sweat dripping from his brow. "How does it feel, Kabuto? How does it feel to be the one running and hiding? Your precious Orochimaru is not here to save you."

He would not escape her this time, in one fatal leap she would have him. She crouched lower into the boughs concealing her chakra, watching him attempt to find her through the smog of poison vapors.

_You're mine._

There was a disturbance, someone was crashing through the brush, yelling at the top of his lungs, "Sakura!" Naruto…Where was Kakashi? Why was he out here by himself looking for her?

Kabuto was gone in the next second leaping straight for Naruto. She wouldn't make it in time. Naruto's eyes widened in surprise and to give him credit he tried to react, but Kabuto was too fast for him. Kabuto grabbed him by his blond hair pulling his head back until his throat was completely exposed. A chakra scalpel, held by Kabuto's broken arm, was pressed at an angle to his jugular . "Come out you little bitch, or your friend will die before your next breath."

Sakura jumped carefully out of her hiding place, emerging from the shrubbery with hands out and up. "What will you do now Kabuto?" She gave him a toothy grin, "If you kill him I will destroy you, your ruse as a spy in Konoha is gone, they can all see you for what you are; just a piece of slime Orochimaru uses to wipe the shit from his boots."

"Shut up!" She had touched a sore spot, and he quickly attempted to compose himself again. "Well that's easy, I'll just take him instead of you." Her smile faded and he took encouragement from this, "Don't you know, this would be more than an equal trade off for Orochimaru, he'll be so pleased. This one," He jerked Naruto and a fresh line of red appeared on his throat, "is much easier to control than you, and he's got an endless supply of chakra."

Sakura managed to keep a straight face, though she thought maybe Kabuto had lost his mind. Naruto having an endless supply of chakra? She looked at him as though for the first time, his light blue eyes blood shot and scared, yet angry and fierce. A few veins were popping out of his forehead as he attempted to hold his breath from the noxious fumes.

_Let him have the boy, he is useless to us._

Why do you hate him so much? What is he to you?

_He? He is nothing more than a vessel, it is what lies in him that I loathe…_

Tell me now! What is he to you? But there was no time to answer, Kabuto was digging the scalpel deeper into the Naruto's tender flesh, "Make your decision Sakura! Let me go and he lives another day, be wise his life is hanging by a thread!"

However Naruto did something she never thought he would have been capable of, he gripped Kabuto's broken arm and bit into the snapped bone and torn flesh. The scalpel dug in causing blood to come pouring out like a crimson waterfall, but it was enough force to get Kabuto to let go of his hair. Sakura rushed forward to catch Naruto, who was clutching his throat in a vain attempt to keep the blood in. "Just hold still," She said panic seeping into her voice.

He was looking at her desperately as though she could somehow manage to save him. I take lives, I don't give them…He was in a lot of trouble, she didn't know what kind of gas Kabuto had used, but it seemed to have adverse effects on those not immune. Naruto felt oddly cold and his eyes had a glossy sheen, she didn't want to move him but he couldn't keep breathing in the fumes.

As gently as she could manage she put his arm around her shoulder and half dragged him to another clearing, the air cleaner and nearly poison free. She placed him on a patch of grass watching as he held his throat together, his breathing shallow. "What can I do?"

_Nothing, let him die._

Angry with Nekomata's apathetic response she began tearing pieces of cloth from her shirt and laying them across the wound applying pressure. It seemed to help, the blood didn't gush quite as badly. However his eyes drifted closed, and his breaths became uneven and erratic. Please be okay, she begged, don't die I can't do this, please don't die. Sakura began to send out waves of chakra to alert any nearby ninja of their presence. It wasn't long before a few cautiously approached, the first appeared to be a woman, but her face was hidden behind a fox mask.

"What happened?"

"We were attacked by enemy shinobi, his throats been cut. Please help him." She added unnecessarily but the kunoichi nodded anyway, pulling away the bloody strips of cloth.

The bleeding had subsided, there was a shallow cut where Sakura had seen a cruelly deep slash. The masked ninja's posture relaxed. Maybe it hadn't been as bad as she had thought, but there had been so much blood. Was she going crazy? The scene reminding her very much of when her own hands had been cut and healed so quickly.

Kakashi and his team showed up, though his face was covered she saw concern shining in his eyes. He looked Naruto over not acknowledging Sakura for a few minutes before asking, "Did Kabuto get away?" Sakura nodded. "Take Naruto to the medical center, and report to the Hokage that Kabuto has escaped."

The ANBU left with Naruto, who was thrown over the shoulder of a bulky man wearing a falcon mask. Kakashi motioned for Sakura to stay behind, she obeyed though she wanted badly to follow and make sure Naruto was going to be alright. When their chakra signatures faded Kakashi turned to her, his gray eyes focusing on her own. She suddenly realized her shirt was split apart, open for everyone to see. Blushing furiously she grabbed it closed. Kakashi handed her his Jounin jacket to cover up. "You must tell me everything Sakura, I can not defend your actions to the Hokage without your cooperation. What happened back there was…" She didn't dare speak even when he stopped a moment to consider his words, "I can't hide this, that, whatever that was back there. You have to tell me the truth."

The thought of telling him everything made her head spin, she could never ever do that, the real question was how much she could afford to hide. He must know, he had to know there was something evil within her. Something wicked, and powerful, something she herself didn't even comprehend except on the most basic of terms. "I don't know what I am…I have no recollection of my life before-" She stopped herself, she had never mentioned 'the before' to Kakashi, the time when she had not been held prisoner by the Akatsuki. She didn't really know where to begin on that subject, but now he was giving her a look that said she had better come clean.

Sakura pursed her lips, her heart fluttering nervously in her chest. Should she just tell him everything? Not about Ichiro of course, but the Akatsuki, they would still be looking for her, did he have a right to know such a dangerous enemy would be after her? Would he still let her stay in The Hidden Leaf if he knew? Did he even know who the Akatsuki were, she herself had only heard tidbits from conversations her ears were not meant to hear.

"Obviously I haven't been truthful about everything." She took a steadying breath, trying to relax but her hands shook and her knees felt weak. "I am being hunted by an organization called the Akatsuki."

There was a flicker of recognition in his gray eyes, but his face gave nothing away as to what he thought. "They kidnapped me and kept me in a room on one of their bases." That room, so dark and lonely, always in that room with no one to talk to, just her books. How many books had she read? It felt like thousands, every book a person could ever want to read, books about psychology, wildlife, cultures, far away places such as the Village of the Hidden Leaf. She had loved the ones about hero's saving people, she herself had wanted to be saved from those fiends many times.

She thought of the person who had brought her the books, Itachi. The first book he had brought her was about Konoha, about its history, the wars and famines, how united its people were. It had been Itachi who had, in a way, saved her from going mad. She almost felt guilty for causing him the trouble of running away, that was a big almost though, almost nonexistent really.

"Why did they do that?" Sakura shifted uncomfortably, how could she explain something like Nekomata to Kakashi? Would he believe her?

"Well, I didn't know until recently, but I have a demon living inside me." His expression never changed, though he did nod for her to go on, "You don't seem surprised."

"I suspected as much, there was really no other explanation for your change in demeanor and the chakra. You are not the first in this village to possess a demon, Sakura."

_**He? He is nothing more than a vessel, it is what lies in him that I loathe…**_

Nekomata's words stirred in her head like sand sifting on a dune in the desert. She thought of how quickly his wound had healed just like hers had. Could it be Naruto was like her? Was that why the demon cat hated him so much? Why it made her ill to be around him? "You mean Naruto."

Kakashi watched her thoughtfully for a moment before nodding again, "How did you know?"

"He," She pointed to her belly to indicate Nekomata, "can sense the other. He doesn't like him very much."

This the masked sensei did raise an eyebrow at, "You can communicate with your demon?"

"Yes, he helped me escape, he told me what the Akatsuki were planning to do with us." And Naruto she added silently, somehow knowing she wouldn't be enough it would have to be many more like her and him. The Akatsuki were planning something horrific, something of cataclysmic proportions. They had to be stopped, but even she wasn't so arrogant to think she could do it herself. Obviously Nekomata had his limits or he would have gone after the rest of the organization.

"You know of Pein's plan?"

Sakura's eyes widened of their own accord, _Pein. Him. _She had only seen him once, years before, though she didn't recall the exact date she did remember him vividly. He was…words alluded her. It wasn't like he was any one person, when you stared into his eyes you were staring into the depths of some entity that was capable of holding different souls at once. "I see, you know of Pein, you've met him haven't you?" As usual Kakashi didn't miss a beat and he seemed very interested in learning what she knew about Pein, his silvery eyes bore into hers willing her to tell every detail.

"It's not something I really want to talk about now, I'm kinda worried about Naruto." She wasn't really concerned, she had seen how his wound had healed. As long as Orochimaru or Kabuto didn't make another move against him she was fairly certain he was well. She just wanted to get out of this uncomfortable situation as quickly as possible, Kakashi was asking far too many probing questions.

"Okay, let's go see how he's doing. They should have checked him into the hospital by now." It was far from the end of his inquisition, but he knew how tired she was, she had been through a lot more than he had guessed she would be put through for the day. It was just about time to eat lunch and Kakashi knew a certain Raman stand that awaited their arrival.

Sakura felt her spirits grow lighter as her and Kakashi took their time walking the crowded streets. It was similar to the village in her dreams, except the walkways were cobbled and there were buildings rather than huts. There were stalls, but not as many, selling clothes, jewels, scrolls, and food. Sakura watched awed as ninjas hopped from roof tops going about their business as civilians walked below. Kakashi had offered to walk her to a Ramen Stand for lunch, but in exchange she would have to talk more about what she knew.

It was funny how not even an hour ago she was about to be sliced open and dissected by a maniac and now she was walking to a Raman stand, the thought put a smile on her face. "What's so funny?"

Embarrassed Sakura put her usual mask back in place, what must he think of her? Amused and seemingly happy after all that had just happened. "Nothing."

"You don't smile enough Sakura, it was nice to see a change." She looked up startled, but he was already coming to a stop in front of a little stand with a sign that read "Ichiraku Raman". The smell was intoxicating, Sakura could feel her mouth begin to water. They both took a seat next to an old man who was sitting by himself with a sugegasa pulled low over his face.

"Oy! Kakashi, it's been awhile! And who is this?" A large boisterous man appeared from behind a curtain with a bowl of delicious smelling Raman. "Here you are sir." He placed the bowl in front of the hunched figure who nodded and began to eat slowly.

Sakura flushed at the attention, Kakashi took it in stride, "This is Sakura, she's new to town so give us two of your best Raman bowls, and a third to go."

"Coming right up!" The man disappeared behind the curtains again.

"That's Teuchi, he's the owner." Sakura nodded, not sure what to say next though she had many questions she wanted to ask. "This is Naruto's favorite place to eat, he must spend at least half his earnings here." Kakashi seemed to smile beneath his mask, "He's had a hard life, always so alone. He doesn't have many friends, and those he only recently acquired. He seems happy on the outside, but inward he knows people stare and talk, he's not as dense as he likes to put out."

Why was he telling her this? It was so random, what point was he trying to make? "Why did you hand me to Kabuto if you knew he was a traitor?" She blurted.

Their conversation was interrupted by Teuchi who carried, quite skillfully, two raman bowls and a baggie to go. "Two of our finest bowls coming up!" He placed the bowls and chop sticks down before leaving again. They looked mouthwatering and steam brushed sensually against Sakura's skin, but she wasn't going to be distracted.

"Tell me."

"Eat."

"Tell me now damn it."

"Sasuke's life has been just as hard as Naruto's, he's more accepted by his peers, but he has such a dark past. Its made him determined, emotionless, ruthless even. And then there was Ichiro," He cast her a sidelong glance that chilled her, he knew, he knew she knew something about Ichiro's mysterious disappearance. She suddenly felt sick, the smell of the Raman became nauseating. "He was always looking for his brother's approval, even if that meant running away from Hidden Leaf to get it."

She had been staring down at her bowl, but now as she glanced up she couldn't help but notice Kakashi's Raman was gone. How had he eaten so fast? Was he going to answer her? Had he been punishing her for withholding information? "And now there's you, I feel as though my team is cursed."

"We're all broken, I get it. Sorry to cause you so much trouble." His eyes widened slightly, and he chuckled. "What's so damn funny?"

"You're not broken Sakura, none of you are. You're stronger, your trials, your pain, your suffering, as horrible as it has been, has made you all into stronger Shinobi. Your kunis are sharper, your spirits can't be broken by any easy means. That's why, someday, all of you will be great shinobi."

"Tell me why you handed me to Kabuto. Do you have any idea what he's put me through?" She was growing emotional, something that had become rather dangerous as of late; but she felt hurt and betrayed, if she only knew why maybe it wouldn't hurt so much.

"It was a test." He said simply.

"You let him torture me for a test?" She was angry now, "He dissected me, when they held me captive he split me open, how many times did I beg him to stop, I begged that fucking creep, I begged him and Orochimaru. And you…You handed me over for a test? I had to relive everything for a test?"

"You were in no danger Sakura, you helped expose Kabuto, and you proved you are not a danger to us. This will all be reported to the Hokage. I'm sorry you had to go through that, but it was necessary."

Her anger didn't subside at the thought, but she hid it with a blank face, "Can we go see Naruto now?"

Kakashi nodded, his eyes frowning as he surveyed her untouched bowl. He placed several bills on the counter and grabbed the bag of Raman. Once they had left only the old man sat at the Raman stand, smiling to himself. He grabbed Sakura's untouched bowl and ate the cold noodles in a few slurps thinking to himself even cold Ichiraku's Raman was the best.

"Hokage-sama," An ANBU appeared behind the man, bowing deeply.

"Yes?"

"I have urgent news, Kabuto escaped. He is, however, wounded gravely. There is an ANBU team on his trail now."

The Third nodded, though he knew this already from his eavesdropping. "You are dismissed, thank you Yamoto."

"Sir." He bowed one last time and was gone in an instant.

Leaving a handsome tip beneath his two finished bowls, the Third Hokage of Konoha left to go visit a friend at the hospital.


End file.
